Seemingly Innocent
by sentimentalvalue
Summary: A girl shows up at the temple one night asking to be hidden. But when her secret comes out the lives of the monks could never be the same. RaiOC with a really BIG twist.[COMPLETE!]
1. The Stranger of Fire

**Hello everybody! I hope you enjoy this new story! I've had this idea for a really long time and I already have it all figured out which means I can update regularly! I will also probably be starting some other stories very soon to. Anyway R&R:**

(Raimundo's POV. It will be Rai's POV the whole time except for certain parts.)

I was outside of the temple. It was just getting to stuffy in there so I went outside for some fresh air, despite the fact that it was cold, rainy, dark, and wet. I liked the rain.

So there I was just leaning against the wall enjoying the scenery. And then I noticed something in the distance. I couldn't tell what it was at first. And then I noticed it was a person. Someone who was running. Someone who was running VERY fast. The person reached the temple gates, fiddled with them for a sec, then burst into the gardens. The person turned around like he or she was looking for something but they didn't stop running. And they crashed right into me before I could move.

I got up pretty fast and offered a hand to the fallen stranger. The person had on a brown trench coat and were soaked to the bone. He or she had to have been in the rain for a long time. The person looked up, he or she had big black sunglasses on. I couldn't see the eyes at all. The person took my hand and I pulled them up. The person was wearing black leather gloves and as soon as I took their hand I noticed something strange. Their hands were VERY warm, but it was such a cold night.

"Thanks." The person said. A girls voice. Suddenly another person appeared in the distance. They too were running very fast. The girl whipped around, saw them and ducked behind the nearest rock.

"Hide me." She whispered. _Hide her? From who?_ The other person reached the gates. This on was a man. He was also soaked and was wearing normal everyday clothes. He looked around frantically for a moment before talking to me,

"Have you seen anybody run by recently?" He had a deep very manly voice. I hesitated and looked down at the girl. Not so much that the guy would noticed but enough to see her. She kept shaking her head and mouthing "No." And my gut just told me to listen.

"No. No one's gone by." I answered him.

"Thanks anyway." He said and took off running again. I turned back to the girl.

"Who was that?" I asked. She got up without responding at first. But the she spoke once more,

"Let's talk inside."

So we went inside. Of course, as soon as we got in Fung and my friends starred at her.

"Uh, hi guys. This is…" I started but then stopped. I didn't even know her name! "Um…What is your name?" I added.

"My name is Ember." She said and in one quick motion took her coat off and flipped her sun glasses off. She threw coat at the rack and it landed perfectly. However she kept her gloves on.

The whole imagine was shocking. Before she had had a hood on, but now that I could see her hair…It looked like fire. I'm serious. It was yellowish at the top, orange in the middle, and red at the tips. It looked like fire! Her hair was just about waist length and flared out slightly. Underneath the coat I saw that she had a big back-pack stuffed as full as it could be. She had light skin with just a little bit of a tan to it, but not much of one. She was a bit on the short side and was very skinny. Not anorexic looking, but just naturally small. Her outfit also followed the flame look. She had on flare out pants that were yellow with flames decorated at the part where it flares. She wore brown boots and she had an over-the-shoulder-top that also looked like fire. The shirt also exposed her belly, which master Fung wasn't to happy about. And to top it all off, red eyes. The over-all look was very red and fiery. Ember…The name seemed so appropriate now.

After the shock of the appearance was over, we introduced ourselves and started asking questions.

"How do you get your hair like that?" Kimiko asked. "I root touch-ups has to get so annoying."

"Well the top is natural. But I swear I'm not your average dumb blonde. As for the rest, lots and lots of hair dye..." Ember answered. "Can I ask you guys something?" She added and master Fung nodded.

"Can I stay here for a while? I won't be a burden, I'll even try to help you guys. But you see that guy that Raimundo saw earlier, Jim, he has this thing with my family. I don't know why, but for years his family has hunted down mine. My mom is dead and my dad…he's dead to." She paused before finishing.

"You can stay." Master Fung said and left to do some chores or something. Leaving all of us to bond.

"So how old are you?" I asked Ember.

"I'm fourteen. Fifteen in May."

"Cool. I'm me and Clay are fifteen, Kim's fourteen and so is Omi." I said back.

"So where are you from?" Omi asked.

"I'm from Texas." She said. I was shocked. She spoke with no accent!

"I'm from Texas to! How come you don't sound like it though?" Clay asked.

"Well I travel a bit so I kinda lost the accent. I'll slip into it every now and then though."

"So…Why the fire look?" I asked.

"Well…Um…Due to an accident, I guess you could call it, I developed fire powers. Well not just powers but like…Like I'm made of fire. Like there's fire going through my veins." She explained. _So that's why her hands were so warm._

"Fire through your veins?" I repeated confused.

"Watch." She commanded and sat down at the table by a glass of water. She took off her gloves and put her hands to the glass. "Stand back, the glass might crack from the heat." After holding the glass for a minute the water inside began to BOIL! It actually boiled! It was incredible! I mean even Kimiko, the xiaolin dragon of fire, can't make water boil just by touching whatever it's in. She let it boil for a few before setting it aside and putting on her gloves. Omi, who was incredibly excited by the whole "show," starting explaining all about us and wu and asked her to join us. Although this little rant of his was long and boring and I think we all just tuned him out.

"Yeah, well that's great baldy but I'm tired. I'm gonna go crash." She said and disappeared around the corner. I guess she would find the "rooms" by herself.

After a minute she bolted back into the room grabbed her bag and dashed back. And now I was curious. I wanted to know everything about this girl. And I wanted to know what was in her bag and all this other stuff! But sometimes you regret things. And sometimes I regret ever learning everything about her…

**Oooh Cliffy! Well…not really. Anyway, I swear this is going to get SOOO much better. And as for that twist, I promise no one will ever have guessed it. Except for like the three people I blabbed it to! Anyway, Review please!**


	2. Explaining the Wu

**Next chapter! And yes, I do know I update like crazy, but that should make you happy! Anyway I started putting in A LOT of hints towards the surprise. I won't be too shocked if you figure it out but I don't think you will. I think when it's revealed it'll be one of those "Why didn't I get that?" Kind-of moments. We all get those, right? Anyway, R&R and enjoy:**

(The next morning. Twelve o clock. A/N: I guess that isn't exactly morning…)

"Has anyone seen Ember?" I asked as I walked into the main room of the temple.

"I believe she is still sleeping. Raimundo will you wake her up?" Master Fung asked. Sleeping? At twelve? She has good taste…

I made my way to the rooms and pulled back the curtain for the guest mat thing. Ember was sleeping peacefully. She was on her stomach with her head to the side. Her fiery hair looked as cool as ever. But what really amazed me was that she was sleeping clutching her bag as close to her as she possibly could. I mean we're talking death grip! I couldn't get it even if I tried. But I tried anyway…

I slowly made my way over to the bag. She was holding it close to her chest and I had to walk around the edge of the mat to get close. _Did I really want to do this? Heck yes I did._ I grabbed the top of the bag and slowly pulled. And then Ember woke up.

I don't think anyone else but me knows how scary it is to see someone bolt awake and have natural piercing red eyes glaring at you.

"Ember…Hey!" I said my voice shaking as I quickly jumped away from her. I was expecting her to kill me but her glare softened. Maybe she didn't notice…

"Hey." She said and yawned.

"It twelve o clock. You sleep later than I do." I said and chuckled.

"I usually don't get a lot of sleep. Despite this "bed" I slept well." She said and got up, the bag falling to her feet, which had been removed of their boots. However she slept in everything else, including the gloves. It must really burn someone if she touches them, because why else wear the gloves all the time?

So there we were. Standing in a tiny room all alone. A tiny room, alone, with a bed. Not a good position to be found in, if you know what I mean. So I left and made my way over to the dinning room. It was time for Lunch. Or in Ember's case breakfast.

"So…What do you do around here?" Ember said sitting down, a brush in hand. She had a slight case of bed head.

"We train and wait for shen gong wu to go active." Omi answered.

"Wait for what to go active?" She asked.

"Shen gong wu. I told you about them remember?" He asked.

"Um…" She said uneasily. Omi sighed and explained once more. And asked her to join the team again. She agreed, to my surprise.

"Rai, why don't you go explain all the wu we have to Ember?" Clay suggested. I nodded and led Ember to the vault.

--

"Okay so these are the golden tiger claws. And they let you-" I started explaining while holding them, but Ember grabbed the claw and interrupted.

"Is this REAL gold?" She asked examining it from where she sat. We were sitting on the vault stairs across from each other.

"I don't know. But they're pretty cool, it lets you transport yourself anywhere."

"Wow. So it's gold and magical?" She asked excited.

"Yeah…" I said nodding, her behavior was peculiar.

"Well show me more!" She said shoving the claws back.

"Okay." I said getting the next wu. "Alright this one is the lasso boa boa." I held it up.

"Is that real snake skin?" She asked excited.

"I don't know. I don't even think its snake skin. But I mean it does turn into a snake…"

"So you could just get the skin after it turns into a snake?" Ember asked eyeing it.

"I guess…But why would you want to?"

"For the snake skin duh!" The way she was acting was really starting to scare me. If only I had caught onto this whole disaster then…

"Alright so this is the orb of tor-" I started once again.

"Wow! This one is pretty!" She said grabbing it as usual. "These are sooo cool. So like how much do they averagely sell for?" She asked.

"Sell for?" I repeated.

"You know! When you sell them how much do you usually get?" She pressed on.

"Ember…We don't sell them." I said confused by her.

"Oh…You don't?" She asked once again.

"No. We fight with them. Weren't you listening to Omi?"

"How could anyone listen to that little chatter box?"

"Good point." I laughed and re-explained wu in a more interesting manner.

"Very cool." She said when I was done. "So what do YOU do around here?" She said stressing the "you" part. Did that mean she was interested in me?

"Well…I usually play pranks." I responded honestly.

"Oh cool! I love pranks!"

"Really?" I asked.

"Yup. My hobbies are pranks and guitar, although I'm not good at it. I mean good enough but I don't sound too great." She explained.

"What else are you good at?" I said trying to make conversation.

"Um…Well I'm sneaky and good at spying. And also I know French. I mean if I actually speak in no one knows what the hell I'm saying, but I can understand it if someone else speaks it. Make sense?"

"Yeah I guess." I said and there was a small awkward silence. "Well um we should probably go practice…" I said pointing to the door. Not my best conversation, but at least she stopped taking every wu and asking all those questions. How much do they sell for? Sneaking and spying…Why didn't I catch it then?

**Yes Rai why didn't you catch it? Well for the people who know, this must be so annoying cause the just want her to spill it! And for those who don't know, it's getting exciting isn't it? Anyway review please!**


	3. At the Movies

**Hello there! Um just to clear up any confusion, I don't have cable anymore so I can't watch Danny Phantom, so I don't know who this Ember girl a few of you have accused me of copying is. I used to watch the show but I have no idea who Ember is. Maybe I'll see the episode at a relatives or friends house. Anyway, I'm just saying that so you don't think I'm copying anyone. Okay? I don't own Danny Phantom or Xiaolin Showdown, SO DON'T SUE ME! Anyway, R&R and enjoy:**

"Take that!" Ember yelled kicking Omi from behind. He had hit her a few minutes into the training session and she was now making it a point to hit him.

"I knew you were going to do that!" Omi defended himself, getting up from the ground.

"Oh course you did." Ember smirked.

"WUDAI MARS FIRE!" Kimiko yelled taking everyone by surprise. A huge fire attack was aimed at Ember and us guys. We, the guys, ran but Ember didn't budge.

"EMBER!" I yelled as she was engulfed in flame. How could Kmiko do that? Ember was on fire! She was surrounded by it! I couldn't even see her!

"You should know better then to use my own element against me." A voice came from the fire, and soon Ember emerged completely unharmed. "Fire has no effect to me. I could walk through magma without noticing the slightest change in temperature." She bragged.

"But…how…how…" Was all Kimiko could stutter. "What about your clothes?" She finally asked. I was wondering that to. Shouldn't her clothes be on fire?

"Fire-proof of course. Think I'd run around in non-fire-proof clothes?" Ember responded.

"Well no…But isn't fire-proof clothing really huge and baggy?" Kimiko asked.

"Special material. It can handle the highest temperate and is just as light-weight as ordinary clothes." She explained.

"How did you get a material like that?" Clay asked.

"I…made it." She said after a very brief pause. So brief I didn't notice it at the time. If only I did…

"Cool." I said. "Hey dudes, I'm bored what do you wanna do?"

"How about we go see a movie?" Omi suggested. We took him to the movies a few weeks ago, his first time ever, and he loved it so much he's been begging us to take him again every chance he gets.

"Sound good to me." I said. Clay nodded and Kimiko smiled before saying,

"I have the perfect movie! It came out a few days ago. Keiko said it was really good!"

"What's it called?" I asked.

--

"The Passion of the Moon?" I said questionably while starring at the sign to the movie. Kim dragged us along, bought the tickets, and was refusing to say anything about the movie. She didn't even tell us the name of it, and now I knew why; it was one of those sappy fluffy chick-flicks. (A/N: Just made that movie up by the way. But I think it sounds pretty genuine, eh?)

"Come on guys! Let's go get good seats!" Kimiko squealed and dragged us all in the theater.

(Three very long hours later.)

"Well that sucked!" Ember said loudly the second we were out of theater. The guys simply starred at her. She hated it? A girl movie? A girl hated one of those crappy chick-flicks? Get out!

"Are you kidding?" Kimiko asked. "That was the saddest thing I have ever seen!" Kimiko exclaimed. She pretty much started crying twenty minutes into it and wouldn't stop. She was pretty much in hysterics.

"Nope. Who wants to watch some fluffy, gooey, mushy, lovey, chick-flick?" Ember asked.

"Uh…CHICKS!" Kimiko said loudly but not quite yelling.

"Don't call me a chick. I'm a girl not a bird. And what can I say? I'm one of the guys." Ember said and put her arms around all the guys, except Omi because he was to short for her to reach him. The second her arm touched me I felt the back of my neck warm up. And soon it started getting REALLY hot. Fortunately she noticed this and took her arms away.

"Oh…Whoops." She said turning away. I felt bad for her, she couldn't touch anything without burning it. I felt bad for her then. But now…I don't know what to think anymore…

"Hey…Anyone wanna sneak into another movie? I mean look how easy it is! And I mean after THAT we should get our moneys worth. Who wants to see that one?" Ember said pointing some sign displaying some movie about some guy who runs around blowing stuff up. It sounded good to me but before I could say anything Kimiko interrupted,

"We can't do that!"

"Why not?" Ember challenged her.

"Because it's illegal!" Kimiko yelled, drawing attention.

"Let's go before we get in trouble." I said and started walking very fast until they followed.

"I am most cold." Omi said the second we got outside. It was very cold indeed. I kept shivering. Even though it was really cold I couldn't see my breath. However, I could see Ember's. I guess it was because she just naturally warmer then everyone. During the movie me and Ember pretty much just talked to each other out of boredom, and she told me that ever since the "accident" that gave her the fire powers, her average temperature was like two hundred degrees!

"I'm cold too." I said through clattering teeth.

"Yeah me three. I'm colder than a naked mouse in the middle of the artic." Clay said, not making any sense what-so-ever. Him and his Texan sayings. I'm SO glad Ember does not talk like she's from Texas. The worst she ever does is an occasional "Ya'll."

"Couldn't have put it better myself." Kimiko said, I don't think she actually paid attention to Clay's phrase.

"I'm not cold." Ember said bluntly.

"Yes, well we don't all have little fires running through us." Kimiko said back.

"Really? I guess you're right, Kimiko, the xiaolin dragon of FIRE!" Ember remarked. Kimiko glared at her for a minute but softened her gaze pretty quick. I laughed at the joke, despite the fact that it was stupid. I have to admit, I rather liked Ember…

**Sorry about Rai being slightly OOC. I put in even more hints! I bet someone's gonna kill me because I keep hinting and not explaining. Anyway, I have to say I love this chapter. It was just too funny. Anyway Review please!**


	4. Ember's First Showdown

**Alright Lunar Lilly Muse, I'm updating! Better get to work on your update! Okay so next chapter, R&R and enjoy:**

"DO YOU GUYS SEE THIS RASH? WE'VE GOT A SHEN GONG WU ALERT!" Dojo yelled holding up a very red tail.

"Ew Dojo!" Kimiko said turning her head away. "No one wants to see that!"

"Actually I'm incredibly fascinated by it." Ember said sarcastically.

"Come on guys hop on!" Dojo said super-sizing himself.

"So which wu is it?" Omi asked as Dojo took off.

"It's called the kitten claws. It's a metal glove with retractable claws." He explained.

"How can a glove be made of metal?" Clay asked.

"It's incredibly flexible. Since its metal it's been described as flexible as aluminum but as stronger than steel.The claws on that thing come out the shred through anything." Dojo told us.

"A metal glove. Interesting." I said thinking out loud. "Must be uncomfortable."

"Stronger than steel…Think it can stand the heat?" Ember asked pointing to herself.

"It probably could but you're assuming we're going to get. There's always Spicer." Dojo said.

"That whiny boy you told me about? Oh yeah he sounds like a real threat." Ember said in her usual sarcastic manner.

"Speaking of Spicer…Over there!" Kimiko shouted pointing off into the distance at Jack. He was hovering the in air with his heli-bot and ready to go after the wu.

"Jack-bots, ATTACK!" He ordered and the robots came after us, obviously they were no match for any of us. Dojo swerved and we attacked. Easy as that.

At the exact moment Jack spotted the wu we dropped off Dojo and made a run for it. Ember was the fastest and reached it first and touched the wu the exact same time Jack did.

"Give me that!" She exclaimed trying to pull it away from him. She was "winning" the tug-of-war but Jack wasn't letting go anytime soon.

"We have to have a showdown!" Jack told her, the wu had been glowing for quite some time.

"I don't play by the rules." She said and pulled it even harder almost getting it.

"You have to have a showdown!" I shouted at her.

"Fine." She sighed loudly.

"Okay then." Jack agreed. "Then…Um…What's your name?"

"Ember."

"Alright then, Ember, I challenge you to a xiaolin showdown!"

"I accept whiny-boy-Spicer." Ember said with no enthusiasm. I can understand not wanting to do a showdown and to just the take the wu, but it was her first showdown, she had to have some enthusiasm.

"I wager my monkey staff against your…What do you have anyway?" Jack asked.

"Do we have to use any wu? Let's just get this over with so I can kick your ass."

"Fine, no wu." Jack scowled.

"Well what's the challenge?"

"Race across the valley. First to reach the wu wins." Jack explained.

"LET'S GO XIAOLIN SHOWDOWN!" And the world started to change. A strip of land where Ember and Jack were standing grew high above us. Soon the rock we were standing on became towering cliffs above them. The trees disappeared and at the end of the long race the kitten claws were resting on a small stone pillar.

"GONG YE TEN PI!" Jack shouted, Ember however said nothing and took off for the claws.

"Hey! Cheater!" Jack said and ran off after her. I was expecting Jack to be slow, but I guess after running away all the time you get pretty fast. Ember was really fast too. Perhaps because she was always being hunted by that Jim guy. Or at least I thought she was…

As Ember reached her top speed something strange began to happen. It was a slow change at first. It started off as just her skin starting to turn reddish. Then it caught fire! The fire surrounded her body until it was just a big burning blaze. The fire starting to go down. Not like it was dying, but it went down in height. When it was very low to the ground it changed even more until it was a completely different shape. It was a bird. A big bird that was completely engulfed in flames. Ember was no where to be seen…She WAS the bird!

Jack had stopped to watch the transformation. Of course as soon as "Ember-bird" took off flying at top speed he started again. He knew it was pointless, he'd just picked up speed she was almost there. The bird dove down and grabbed the metal glove in her fiery talons and flew off towards the sky. The world changed back to normal except for the bird which was still flying around victoriously.

Jack just stood there with a stupid face watching her rip through the skies. The bird flew over us monks and dropped something silver and shiny. And just as I was about to catch it Jack made him move. He dove at us and grabbed the claws and started running away when a bird blocked his path.

Where the bird, Ember, lay on the floor a huge fire flared up in the air and when it faded she was standing there glaring at him. So she was the bird. I had just been assuming.

"Hand it over sissy boy." She demanded.

"Make me!" He said like a child.

"Oh I will." Ember said glaring.

"Fine just try and take it back you flaming misfit." He retorted. It didn't sound to harsh to me, but Ember's ears took a little hard.

Ember's hand darted forward and grabbed the claws. Then she pushed Jack down and held down there with her foot. It all happened so fast he didn't have time to react. And we just weren't thinking. She used her teeth to grab the tip of the middle finger on her glove and pull it off. She spit it to the side and shoved on the metal glove.

"Kitten claws." She said clearly and five metal point shot out of the tips of the glove. She lowered the claws right above Jack's face ready to gouge his eyes out. And the whole thing happened so fast he hardly had time to think. "Take it back." She whispered threateningly.

"Don't hurt me!" Was all he could scream. Fortunately we snapped out of it.

"Ember no!"

"Just leave him!"

We all shouted but she was still trying to blind him. He was using both hands to hold her wrist and push and keep her hand away.

"Ow! What are you doing to my hands!" Jack asked. Of course. He was holding her wrist and anyone who touches her skin gets a nasty burn.

"TAKE IT BACK!" She screamed at him.

"Fine! OW! I take it back!" He screamed like a whiny boy just as me and then others arrived to stop her. Thankfully she stopped on her own and got off him. Jack got up and started to run.

"Get back here!" She yelled at him.

"Why?" He said cowardly.

"Give me all your shen gong wu!" She shouted back. Was she going to mug him or something? Sounded good to me but he took off in the air and flew away. Even though she was feet away I could feel her tensing eager to go after him.

"So…You're a bird?" Omi asked after the silence.

"Not really. Since I'm literally bonded to fire I can turn into fire. And once in my fire form I can shape shift into something else. I could choose to look like a flaming human or something, but I've always gone with a bird." She explained.

"Cool." I said.

"Hey, would that whiney boy be some-how related to John and Lori Spicer? You know the famous ones?" She asked. (A/N: Made up those names.)

"Yeah he's their son." Clay answered.

"You're kidding! THE John and Lori Spicer are the parents of that little wuss?" She asked once more.

"Yes he is." Kimiko answered.

"Interesting." She said back and there was another silence. After seeing Ember's temper get like that we were all a little freaked out at the moment. Fortunately Dojo saved us by super sizing and flying us out of there. And still I wonder while looking back, how was it possible for me to miss it?

**Originally, Ember was going to lose the showdown then go after Jack. But I kinda spaced out and kept writing and by the time I caught it I had already written to much to just erase it. Anyway I think it works. And I have to say, I think I've could've done better. I know I'm always criticizing myself but still I think this chapter has room for much improvement. Well hopefully you will disagree. Review please!**


	5. Fire Flies

**Sorry 'bout not updating sooner. R&R and enjoy:**

-A few hours later-

We were all pretty much avoiding Ember since the whole kitten claws thing. I mean, we knew she had a temper, but what she was about to do to Jack…

Right now I was just out in the gardens taking in the scenery. I know it may sound really girly, but I still like walking through them and taking everything in and thinking about everything that had happened.

And as I thought, I started thinking about Ember's bag. That big black bag that she either takes everywhere with her, or leaves it but puts a bajillion locks on it.

Just then Clay came walking in. I wasn't sure what he was doing. Perhaps looking for me, I think it was dinner time.

"Hey partner." He said and walked over when he spotted me. I waved back.

"Hey Clay…" I started.

"Yeah?"

"Never mind." I didn't want to tell him about my "plan."

"What is it?" Clay persisted.

"Fine." I sighed. "Okay, you know Ember's bag?"

"The one that she carries with her all the time?"

"Yeah that one."

"What about it?" Clay asked.

"Well don't you want to know what's in it?" I asked.

"Whatever it is, it's Ember's business. Besides, it's probably just her clothes and things."

"If it were clothes then why would she put three padlocks on it when she leaves the room?" I shot back.

"True. But what are you saying? You wanna break into it?"

"Yes! I think if we use the kitten claws we can pick the lock." I explained my plan.

"Yeah , well there's some problems with that partner. One, that may not even work. Two, Ember's been wearing the claws ever since she won them. And three, there's a combination lock on it to. And I don't think she's the kind of person to make her combination her birthday." Clay told me.

"Good point." I sulked. It may seem nosy to you, but I REALLY wanted to know what was in there. "Well maybe we could just rip open the bag."

"She would notice that. Besides, it's her stuff, let's just leave it alone."

"Fine…Hey hold on! How did you know she had a combination lock on it? YOU'VE BEEN SNOOPING!" I yelled pointing an accusing finger.

"Yeah well…Well…Uh…It's dinner time. I'm starving let's go." Clay stuttered then ran off towards the temple.

I ran after him and we went to the dinning room for dinner. Omi and the girls were already there and the food was out. It was Spaghetti. SPAGHETTI! We never get spaghetti! It's like a delicacy at this place! Perhaps we were only getting it because we had a visitor, Ember.

I sat down and started eating, the others had been rude enough to start without me. Master Fung and the others monks weren't there. We never ate with adults, they always had an early meal by themselves. I was never sure why. I mean don't you think it's a little ridiculous to have a children's table, for a bunch of teens?

As we ate I couldn't help but watch Ember. She wasn't very lady-like at all. She wasn't a complete slob or anything but she slurped her noodles and got a little bit of sauce on her chin. Thankfully she wiped it off. As I said, not dainty or lady like. I guess she really was one of the guys. Whereas Kimiko dabbed at her mouth with her napkin after every bite.

After dinner it was dark out and the stars were shining. It was too beautiful to pass up so everyone headed out to the gardens to relax and watch the sky. Everyone was kinda spread out, me and Ember were together.

Lying there, watching the stars was kinda like being back at home on the beach. Except we were lying on blankets not beach towels. And we were on grass not sand. And instead of an ocean there was just a little fountain. And instead of a…You know, maybe it isn't quite like the beach…

"How's it goin'?" Ember asked stretching out on her blanket.

"Good I guess." I responded. I turned so we were looking at each other. I noticed she still had the kitten claws on. "Are you ever gonna take that off?" I asked nodding at it.

"I dunno." She said holding it up. "Since I left my other glove in the forest where we found them, I guess I'm stuck with them until I find another glove. I guess I'll take them off when I take a shower." She answered.

Yeah, I guess she would take them off when she took a shower. Boy, it must be really steamy in the bathroom when she takes a shower. Or maybe a bath too. That must be weird. It would be like bathing in boiling water. It's so weird that her body gives off heat like that I mean…WAIT! Why am I thinking about Ember…naked…in the shower? AH! BAD IMAGES! I MEAN GOOD IMAGES! BUT LIKE…AH! NEW SUBJECT!

"So what's your favorite color?" I said the first thing that came to mind. Anything to change the subject and get me away from "those" thoughts…

"Red, orange, and yellow. And I bet you'll never guess why." She said with a smile.

"Hmm…Could it be the fact that they are the colors of fire?" I said back.

"You're just to smart for me!" She gasped.

"I guess I am." I said, continuing to play along. She just giggled back and we started laughing.

"Hey look!" She said excitedly getting up. "Fire flies!" She pointed. (A/N: I never said this before, but it's suppose to be summer.)

"Cool." I said getting up. I wasn't to excited though. We get fire flies all the time.

"I love fire flies. I mean not only do they have the word 'fire' in it, they are so fun to catch! It really brings back memories of my past…" Her voice trailed off. "We used to go out all the time, back when I was little. We used to catch the fire flies and bring them home. And then we'd release them." She reminisced.

"Sounds fun." I noted.

"It was. My life was great until that fateful day when that car hit my mom." She sighed.

"I'm sorry." I said and put my arm around her. He neck was of course warm, but I wanted to support her. "Hey wait a second, didn't you say your parents were killed by Jim?"

"Uh…they were! Jim was driving the car!" She retorted. If only I caught the slip-up then…

"Oh, okay. Why is he after your family anyway?" I asked.

"Look I don't want to talk about it!" She snapped and I pulled my arm away.

"Sorry, I'm just a little curious." I apologized. "You don't have to get all angry."

"I know." She huffed. "It's just my whole life I've always been short-tempered. And the whole thing with Jack today just kinda through me over the edge."

"Sorry…" I said again, though there was no need to apologize.

"I'm tired. I'm going to go take a shower and go to bed, kay?" She said, still sounding annoyed.

" 'Kay." I nodded. I bet it would get really steamy when she took a shower. OH GREAT THE SHOWER THOUGHTS ARE BACK!

**The shower parts always crack me up! Anyway, point of this chapter was to establish a friendship before pouring on the romance and then comes the big plot twist…WHICH I BLABBED TO EVEN MORE PEOPLE! I'm horrible I know. REVIEW!**


	6. Jokes & Revenge

**Hmm…I'm getting a little disappointed with this. I feel like I could do better, and that it's kind-of boring. Anyway, I guess if I look on the bright side, I keep getting closer and closer to the twist, and once I get there this story will get oh SO much better. I guarantee it. And I swear none of you will expect it, except for the…(Counts off fingers.)…four people I've told…(smacks forehead.) Well Enjoy:**

-Next morning-

_Just a little closer._ I mentally willed Clay. Ember had calmed down since last night and the morning was going slow, so we decided to stir things up with a little practical joke. And Clay was our target.

"Raimundo! Where are you? And why did you want to play hide-n-seek anyway?" Clay asked walking through the hallway, pausing every now and then to check under things for me. What he didn't know was that Ember and I were hiding behind a pillar and we had booby traps all over the place! And the pillar was right next to a door, the perfect position for Ember's "task."

"Kay…GO!" I whispered loudly and gave Ember a little nudge. She skipped out in front of Clay pretending to be clueless. I snickered at the sight, she didn't seem like one to skip around.

"Hey Ember, have you seen Rai anywhere?" Clay said taking the bait.

"No." She told him. "But if I see him I'll tell you."

"Thanks." Ember jogged into the garden then after a minute ran back.

"He's over here!" Clay's face lit up and he started running. He ran over the little "set-up" we had on the floor, triggered a bunch of chain reactions, and before he could even think about what was happening was nailed with about twenty water-balloons.

Me and Ember burst out laughing. The sight of a drenched, clue-less, cowboy was too hilarious. I stepped out from behind the pillar so Clay could see me. He was still helpless! Ember had just doubled-over laughing and pointing.

"Hey now! That wasn't nice." Clay said from the ground.

"Yeah but it was funny!" Ember laughed.

"No this is funny!" Clay picked up a balloon that hadn't broken and hurled it at Ember. A direct hit to the head! Her normally flared out hair was now flat against her scalp, and she didn't look to happy about it.

"CLAY BAILEY YOU ARE GOING TO REGRET THE DAY YOU WERE EVER BORN!" She yelled and took off after him. He scampered up and made a run for it.

From the window I watched her chase him outside, rip off her glove, and hurl fireballs at him.

"GET BACK HERE!" She yelled as he ran back into the hallway and out again. She started to go after him but slipped because of all the water on the floor. She started skidding right towards me and fell on top of me before I could move! So there we were. On the floor. And she was lying on top of me.

"Uh…hi…"She said uncomfortably.

"Hi…" I said back.

"Well then…I'll be going now…I…uh…left my glove outside." I noticed too. Her hand was paler then the rest of her body. I guess she's been wearing those gloves like her whole life. Where her hand was rested on my chest was now a very hot place. The kitten Claws were still in place though. She still wouldn't take them off. She was very fond of them and the special thing about the claws was that you didn't actually have to say its name to activate it. You could keep retracting the claws in and out, which is what she did when she was bored.

Just as Ember was about to get up a flash came from the door to the outside. I lifted my head up to find Clay smiling like an idiot, a camera in hand.

"Clay!" I yelled at him. "What are you doing?"

"Just getting a little revenge." He smiled. Great. From his angle it looked like we were making out!

"GIMME THAT!" Ember sprang off me and once again began chasing him. Maybe if I wasn't so embarrassed I would've figured it out this whole mess…

**Aw. EmberxRai chemistry. Well sort-of…Anyway, I swear I'll get back to the actual plot progression soon. I just want to build a relationship between Ember and Raimundo. After all, you can't have a love story when they've never had a "moment!" REVIEW!**


	7. Stalker

**Okay update! I am so sorry about not updating sooner! I swear though the next chapter is where the writer in me goes crazy and I pledge that everything after this chappie will be some of the greatest material you have ever read. Well maybe not quite, but it's defiantly gonna be my best ideas yet. With the exception of some of the Unstoppable twists. THIS stories twist will be in about so maybe…at least two, but probably three chapters. But I will update more so it won't be a very long wait. Enjoy:**

-Two days later-

_Ask her already!_ I really was being a wuss with the whole Ember situation. Ever since the Clay took that picture that looked like me and Ember were making out, I started thinking about what we would be like if we were a couple. We both love prank, we like making jokes and we have a bunch of other stuff in common. So I started thinking about asking her on a date. Now I may seem overly confident sometimes, but when it comes to Girls…

Anyway as I said I wasn't going about asking in the best manner. Basically for the past day I'd been…following her. I mean not like that. But I kinda made it a point to go where she did. I've tried asking a couple of times but usually end up asking something else like "What's your favorite number?" Which is eight by the way. Her birthday is May eighth so I guess that's why.

So basically I'd been inconspicuously following Ember. Then she went into the bathroom. Yeah I wasn't gonna follow her in there.

So there I was leaning against the wall by the bathroom waiting for her to come out. I heard the toilet flush and then a strange clanky-metal-sound. Metal? What on earth could she possibly be doing that involved metal?

But my question was answered by another sound. Running water. She must've taken off the kitten claws to wash her hands. It made perfect sense now! Good thing to. I mean if she didn't wash her hands that would be pretty icky.

The door knob started to turn and I jumped in front of the doorway so I was the first thing she saw when she got out. She didn't look shocked all when she saw me. I was expecting her to be surprised considering she was just alone and I showed up out of no where.

"Alright stalked what do you want?" Ember asked. So she knew I was following her!

"How did you know?" I said referring to the "stalking."

"I have eyes everywhere." She winked. "Well anyway, why have you been following me?"

"IreallylikeyouandIwashopingwecouldgooutsometime!" It all bubbled out. (A/N: Have a fun time deciphering that!)

"Um…what? Go slower!"

"Okay." I sighed heavily. "Look, I really like you…and I was wondering…if maybe you wanted to go out some time?" her eyes widened it shocked at the question. Then she softened her gaze,

"Sure." She said with a smile.

"Okay!" I said trying not to sound excited but it didn't really work. "Um so how's seven o clock tomorrow?"

"It's a date." She said and walked away. SCORE!

**Very sorry about this super sucky chapter that I could've summed up into like two paragraphs. I couldn't exactly go any farther because if I did the date it would be really LONG and if I did the other thing I was planning the next chapter would be the twist and I'm not quite ready for that. So please review even if it's to tell me this chappie sucked and I should've just gone farther. Because personally, that's what I think.**


	8. Date Night

**I apologize in advanced for this chapter. It's a little long and there's A LOT of time passing. But I have to say, this is my favorite chapter yet. Things start getting REALLY good. R&R and enjoy:**

-Next day. 7:05 p.m.-

I was leaning against the wall by Ember's "room" waiting for her to come out. She was just in there getting ready. It occurred to me that I could actually walk in on her because it was simply a curtain, but decided against it. Things wouldn't go to well if I did that.

She came out after a minute and completely took my breath away. She was wearing a small red dress with thin straps. It came about halfway to her knees in length and was a deep crimson color. She also had on a matching lipstick. She looked really beautiful except for one little thing. Slung over her shoulder was that big black bag.

"Y-you look a-amazing." I stuttered. She just smiled. "So…are you going to take the bag with you?"

"I bring it every where." Ember answered. "Why do you have a problem with that?"

"Well…No…it just looks out of place is all." She gave me look before speaking,

"I'll leave it. Just gimme a minute to put the locks on."

"What's in there anyway?" I asked. I instantly had big fiery eyes glaring at me. So far this wasn't going well…

We made our way outside, grabbing our coats along the way. Neither of us said anything. Okay Rai, time to break the ice.

"So what do you wanna do?"

"How about a movie?" Ember suggested.

"Sounds great."

-At the theater-

"So what do you want to see?" I asked entering the giant movie theater. We had hopped on a train and gone over. It was a pretty long ride but that was actually a good thing. Me and Ember got to talking and the date got much better.

"Anything but 'the Passion of the Moon'" Ember replied and then we burst out laughing. The Passion of the Moon was horrible movie that Kimiko dragged us all to. Ember was the only girl in the theater that didn't like it. Actually she hated it just as much as the guys.

"Agreed." I said, still laughing. "But is there anything in particular you do want to see?" I added after calming down.

"Remember that other movie I wanted to see?" She asked.

"The one about the guy that blows things up?"

"Yeah that one. Let's see it. I LOVE action movies!" She exclaimed.

"Cool! I love action movies to!" I sounded surprised, but I wasn't really. I had learned by now that Ember was pretty much a tomboy. I had picked up on the fact that she was a tomboy, but why didn't I figure the rest out?

-Four hours later-

"I can't believe that movie was four hours long!" I almost yelled coming out of the theater.

"Yeah but it rocked!" Ember exclaimed.

"It did!" I agreed and then we laughed.

"So what do we do now?" She asked.

"I guess go back to the temple."

"Are you kidding?" She asked surprised. "The night is young! Let's do something else!" She added and tried to drag me out of the building. It was pretty childish but I didn't care.

"Ember, it's almost eleven thirty! Fung'll kill us!"

"Did the old guy say we couldn't stay out 'till eleven thirty?" Ember asked slyly.

"Well no but…"

"Well then it's okay! Besides if it's this late already it won't hurt to stay out longer." She explained.

"Okay." I shrugged. Better to agree, besides it sounded like fun. "Well what should we do?"

"How about we go to the park?"

"At eleven!"

"Yeah it's fun! No one else is there and you can do whatever you want." She said and pulled my hand. "Come on!"

"Alright!" I gave in and walked out with her. She stopped pulling, but she was still grabbing my hand, so we were holding hands. (A/N: Awwww. Okay so I just ruined the flow by doing that but…)

--

"Look at me! I'm on top of the world!" I yelled from the top of the slide.

"Don't get to cocky wind boy!" Ember yelled from below. She threw off the kitten claws and threw a fireball at me. I jumped and fell down the slide. How very graceful.

I slid down and landed in front of her. She was smiling and trying to hold in a giggle but finally burst out laughing when she saw me. I had to laugh to. For some reason it was just funny.

"Oh yeah well watch this!" I said getting up. I darted for the kitten claws, which had been left on the floor, and started running away with them.

"Hey!" Ember called after me and gave chase. I had a good head start but I already knew Ember was fast. After a few minutes I noticed the air around me was getting hot, and when I turned around I saw I was being followed by a raging ball of fire. Not a bird though. She chose to stay fire.

The fire rushed ahead and somehow swiped the claws right from me. I still can't figure out how fire can steal something, but it did. And naturally it became very hot when she did.

After a minute the fire transformed back into Ember and she was holding the claws smiling.

"Don't even try to beat me in a race, it won't get you anywhere." She bragged. I ran up and tackled her before she could move and we fell onto the soft grass. The grass was wet from dew, but we didn't care, we were laughing too much. Even Ember didn't care that her dress was getting messed up.

"You're mean!" She said sarcastically.

"If I was so mean, would I do this?" I asked and started tickling her. She screamed with delight and shoved me off and ran for it. Exhausted as I was, I followed her. It may have been tiring but this whole night was so fun.

-Back at the temple-

"Well that was fun." Ember said walking to the "door" to her "room." Which meant the curtain to her mat on the floor. She started to lean forward just a little bit. She wanted a kiss. I wanted to kiss her to. But I was…afraid.

Everything about Ember was hot. Just touching her skin burned liked hell. I wanted to kiss her, but I just couldn't bring myself to do it. But I brought my face closer until they were almost touching. But still, I couldn't do it.

So we stood there like idiots. Everyone had already gone to bed, and we were just standing there silently. I'd never really been this close to her. As we stood there starring into each others eyes, I guess she didn't know it was polite to close your eyes when you kissed someone, I noticed a lot more detail about her face.

Normally the only thing you would notice is her eyes. They're so bold, while the rest of her face is pretty plain. Being closer I noticed that her cheeks were a light rosy color. It could've been natural, or it could've been blush, I couldn't tell. Not only that, but she has a few very light freckles on her face. They were kinda cute too. I noticed other things too.

We stood there for about another minute. I was scolding myself for each second that went by. Then Ember closed her eyes leaned forward and planted a small peck on my lips before I could react. She opened her eyes just for a second. I can't describe the way they looked. But there was just something about that gaze. It really brought together that magical night.

And before I could say "good night" she quickly walked into her room without a word. I slowly brought two fingers up to my lips and touched where she kissed me. It wasn't hot at all. It was just warm. I guess I had no reason to be scared.

The whole evening was wonderful. Too bad things were about to get ugly.

**Aww! I love this chapter so much! This last part at the temple has got to be one of my favorite works. It's just so…Romantic and cute and stuff. Look at me gush! Anyway, I just love the whole Ember kissing Rai thing. It's so in-character for her, you know? Anyway please review! I know the site is being worked on, so I don't know if you will be able to read this immediately, but if you are reading this, REVIEW!**


	9. Just a Simple Video

**THE TWIST IS HERE! Well…not quite. The events that lead to it are here. The next chapter is when it will get explained. I know you won't be disappointed:**

-A few days later-

It was this fateful day that my life turned around. The day when it all came crashing down. The day everything changed. But of course, it started out normal.

Ember and I were watching T.V. Yeah I know, T.V.! About a year ago me and Kimiko begged master Fung like crazy and finally he put in a very small mini T.V. Only thing is the volume isn't much louder than mute, the screen is smaller than my head, and it's in black and white. And of course there's no cable. But at least we have one…

So we were sitting there and watching. Well…hardly watching. It's hard to pay attention to that thing! So we were actually talking and giggling at each others jokes. Everything was fine. And then it slowly started to happen. And it all began with some simple words,

"Oh my god! Rai, Clay, Omi, Ember get over in here!" Kimiko yelled from the computer. She had brought a small laptop with her from Japan. It got the internet and everything. But she usually only used to check her mail because the internet connection was S-L-O-W.

"What is it Kim?" I asked going over. Clay and Omi arrived too.

"It's this video clip my friend sent me. You HAVE too see it! NOW!" She explained. She clicked a button on the page and the video started to load very slowly.

"Hey where's Ember?" I said looking around. I did a full 360 and she wasn't on the couch anymore.

"She probably just went to the bathroom." Kimiko said. "Oh look it's loaded!" she added after a minute.

And the video began. It was taken from the news. It showed a new reporter standing in front of a large crowd. She started talking into the microphone,

"Just last night a robbery took place. The police are working on the problem but have not released if they have a suspect or not. The house was robbed from head to toe. Art work, electronic devices, almost nothing survived." She explained to the camera. "And now a word from the poor people who were robbed."

The crowd parted and what we saw shocked us all. In the background was a house. A big house. A mansion almost. A house we all recognized.

The Spicer Mansion.

The house of our enemy. We had been there for so many wu-raids. It was Jack's house, no doubt.

However, Jack was no where to be seen. His parents were there though. Standing in front of the house trying best to force a smile. Even though Misses Spicer was crying.

"They took everything!" Misses Spicer sobbed. "Nothing survived."

"They even took my sons robots. I mean those are a piece of junk!" Mister Spicer added. Suddenly there were gasps from the crowds as someone pushed through. People were shoved out of the way and when they departed we saw a familiar white face with bright red hair. It was Jack.

"They took it! They took at all!" He yelled trying to get a microphone form his parent. They tried to get him to calm down but he wouldn't he just kept yelling.

"Jackie go inside!" His mother said trying to push him away.

"NO!" He yelled and got his face all up the camera. "It's not safe! They took it all! They took all my wu! Every single last shen-gong-wu! It's all gone! You're not safe! You're not!" Jack continued to scream and finally the clip went black.

As it ended we all exchanged glances. The Spicer had been robbed. And not only that, Jack's wu had been taken! Whoever did this knew whet they were doing. Before we could do anything we heard a scream,

"HELP!" The voice shrieked. IT WAS EMBER!

"Ember!" We all yelled in unison and ran towards the sound. We searched the whole temple in about three minutes flat. Nothing.

"Children come here!" Master Fung shouted from the doorway to the shen gong wu vault. We followed him in and we all gasped.

We had been robbed of almost all our shen gong wu.

"Have you found Ember?" Master asked.

"No." Omi answered. "She's gone."

"The wu is gone too…Do you think whoever stole it kidnapped Ember as well?" Clay asked. My mind went into over-drive trying to figure everything out. And finally I thought of something.

"It was Jim! He's been after her family for years! He must've tracked her down and stolen some thing while he was at it!" I quickly explained.

"But why would he go after Jack?" Kimiko asked confused.

"Spicer?" Fung repeated. Kim gave him the low-down on the video clip.

"Jim is our only suspect so far. I think we should just go with it." I told the group.

"I agree with Raimundo." Fund started. "We should go to the police before it gets any later."

So we all boarded Dojo and made the long journey to the police station. It was pretty far from the temple. Little did I know that there was a lot more to it then I could've imagined. And it all started from a simple video clip.

**OH BOY CLIFFY! Okay, so if you figure it out from this I won't be too surprised. The anticipation is getting to me and I can pretty much guarantee that I'll have that next chapter up by Monday or something. Review if you want me to get to the twist sooner!**


	10. The Escape of the Phoenix

**Wow, a lot of you figured it out. I mean I knew I made it obvious, but I was still hoping no one would get it. Anyway, for those who figured it out, this chapter will give you A LOT more information. And for those who haven't, you "stupid" people will find out all you need to know. Enjoy:**

After about an hour long trip, yes, that's how far away we are from civilization, we reached the station. We packed the remaining wu and Master Fung even came with us on the trip. I think it was his first time flying, he looked pretty sick.

I jumped off Dojo right before he landed, eager to catch whoever was behind this. I burst in through the doors and the others caught up pretty soon. I'd never really been to a police station before, but it was just like it was on T.V. There was a big desk right at the end. The little notice board on the side. Big box of doughnuts out. Same old same old.

We made our way to the guy at the desk but stopped dead in our tracks after noticing something. The man at the desk was talking to someone else. A man. A man sitting in a chair. He was sitting backwards and rocking slightly. I knew this guy. I'd seen him before.

It was Jim.

My immediate thought was that the police already knew about him and he was taken into custody. But then why would he be out here and laughing? But there was something else to.

He was in a police uniform.

So I stood there opened mouth, in shock. Everyone just starring at me. Finally the man at the desk spoke,

"Hey there sonny, can I help you with something?" I couldn't answer. I just kept starring at Jim.

"Is there something about my face that amuses you?" Jim asked annoyed. Still I couldn't answer.

"Rai, is there a reason you aren't saying anything?" Kimiko whispered loudly in my ear. Finally I snapped.

"You!" I screamed shaking an accusing finger at Jim while I backed against the wall.

"Hey son, what's wrong?" Desk-guy asked.

"Rai what are you doing?" Clay asked. I couldn't take it. Everyone was just asking question and I just exploded.

"You little…HOW COULD YOU! You're a police officer and yet your life goal is to kill off her entire family! You freaken ran over her mom with a car! I don't know what you did to her dad but he's dead to all because of you! And now not only have you kidnapped her, you've stolen from us and from the Spicers!" I was about two seconds from ripping his throat out.

"Raimundo, what are you talking about? Who is he?" Omi pointed to that little killer.

"That my friends is," I started and took a dramatic pause. "JIM!"

They all gasped and the police officers just exchanged glances.

"Look can someone just explain to me how," Jim started but was cut off.

"You're the one who kidnapped Ember!" Ckay exclaimed.

"So did you kill her yet?" I demanded. But he ignored me. He was starring at Clay all funny.

"What was that name you said cowboy?" Jim asked getting in Clay's face.

"The name?" Clay repeated confused. "It was Ember…but why do you wanna know?"

Jim groaned loudly and looked to the other guy, who was just as confused as us.

"What's going on?" The other officer asked. "Who's Ember?"

"You know her as someone different, Bob." Jim started, so now we had desk-guys name. "Does the phoenix ring a bell?"

"You mean these guys know something about her?" Bob gasped loudly.

"It makes sense now." Jim said and quickly walked over to me. "I knew your face was familiar! You've been hiding her haven't you?" He demanded.

"What are you talking about?" This was so confusing.

"Did you not hide a girl about five foot two with long flame resembling hair?" Jim asked loudly, pacing.

"What does that have to do with anything?" I asked.

"ANSWER THE QUESTION!" Okay he was really scaring me now.

"Yes we did, could you please just explain this all!" I yelled back. Jim stopped pacing and let out a long string of curses.

"You hid the phoenix!" Bob yelled and got out form behind the desk.

"Who the heck is the phoenix?" I screamed.

"The phoenix is only about the world's greatest bank robber! You know her as Ember. You hid her. And from what I understand, she stole not only from you but from the well-known Spicers!" Jim ranted. The name…the phoenix…that made sense! Ember was the phoenix. Ember can also make herself a flaming bird. That explained the phoenix part. But the other part…

"Bank robber?" Kim repeated.

"Can you just tell us everything you know?" I asked.

"Alright but it's a long story." Jim sighed.

"I wanna know."

"Alright then. Ember, as I'm sure you guessed, is not her real name. That would be Mary Smith." He started.

"Smith is like the most common name in the world!" I exclaimed.

"Yes well that's a good thing for a thief! Anyway, she was once normal. She, her mother, her father, and he twin sister were a very happy family."

"Twin?" Clay repeated.

"Yes. Her identical twin sister, Eve Smith." Jim told us.

"Eve and Mary…those are biblical names." I noted.

"Yes well those twins are far from being good Christian girls. They're father, John, was a famous scientist. He was well respected and very smart. However it was their mother, Elisabeth, who held the family together. She was a stay-at-home mom and from what we know, was one of the nicest people around. Then one day everything changed. When the twins were eight, Elisabeth was hit by a drunk driver and died. The family was a wreck. With out their mother things were much different. John began to drink. I don't know why anyone would drink if their wife was just killed by a drunk driver, but he did. One of his jobs as a scientist was to find ways to enhance humans. Of course, coming to work drunk everyday wasn't a great impression. On top of that he was trying to create a way to bond people to a certain power. At his job he started illegally testing on animals. He was fired. So what to do? He started experimenting on other things. Humans. His own daughters." Jim explained.

"That's horrible!" Kimiko shrieked.

"Indeed." Jim nodded. "He experimented on the girls. The experiments did two things, it enhanced each girl, just as he planned, but there were major drawbacks. And the second thing it did was made his children hate him. They ran away at twelve and began their lives as thieves."

"They're both thieves?" I asked.

"Yes. They worked together shortly before finding and underground organized crime association. But Ember wasn't satisfied. She wanted adventure. Her sister thought she was an idiot, with the group they were becoming rich. But Ember left anyway, and they have since been rivals. Ember made her 'profession' in bank robbing. She'll steal anything, but she mostly targets banks. Because she is supernaturally fire-enhanced she can rob a bank by herself! Not only that, but she's good at it. She's worth her weight in cash. Actually more than that. Anyway, as I said she's good. Best in the business pretty much. She's number four on the F.B.I.'s most wanted list."

"Number four?" I asked. He nodded.

"Don't you have to be like a serial killer to get on that?" Kimiko asked.

"Not always. Besides, she'll stop at nothing to get what she wants." Jim said.

"Are you saying she's a murderer?" I asked. I just couldn't believe any of this.

"No…not yet anyway. But she did burn down an entire school once. No one died. Six were injured, four critically injured, but no one died. As for her sister, she still works for the organization. She's their leader actually. Just as Ember, she was also enhanced. But she got ice. They hate each other, but they copy each other. Her sister changed her name to none-other-than Icicle. Icicle is number sixteen on the F.B.I.'s list." Jim told us.

If I wasn't so shocked at the time I would've made some joke about the irony of this all. Two sisters, who were best friends. Now they hate each other, both have powers, opposing powers too, and are some of the biggest criminals the world has seen. But I couldn't make a joke. This was too unbelievable.

"I-I…I don't believe you!" I finally said.

"Rai, his story makes a lot more sense than Ember's. I think it checks out." Kimiko said.

"No, it can't be true!" I persisted.

"I have proof." Jim said slowly. "Lots of proof…"

"Like?" I asked.

"Newspaper clippings. Her dad is in jail, I can take you to see him. But I also have this." He said and reached around in his pockets. He found what he was looking for and pulled it out. It was a photo.

"This is a family portrait we found." He handed it to me. Ember and Icicle were in the front. They had long blonde hair and freckles. A very plain face except for the fact that they both had bright blue eyes. Except for the outfits, Ember and Icicle looked very similar. But I was able to tell them apart. I'm not sure what it was, but I knew the girl on the left was Ember. In the back were the parents. Her dad had short curly brown hair and big glasses. He was the only one who had a camera smile on. The girls had a genuine smile. Not the cheesy staged kind. They looked like they had just been laughing. And then the last person was of course their mom. She had very long blonde hair and was pretty tall. She was bending over and giving the twins bunny ears. Her eyes were closed and she was laughing. She looked so happy, I guess now I knew why the family collapsed when she died.

"Well so what?" I said after looking at it for a while. "I need more proof then this."

Jim got out another photo and handed it to me.

"This is a more recent picture of Icicle." He explained. Icicle was much different in this picture. Her hair was longer and platinum blonde, almost white. Her eyes were a light frigid shade of blue. It's the palest blue I've ever seen, it was almost white. She was wearing something that looked like an Eskimo outfit. It was dark blue with fur trim. The only difference was that it was about the some length of a mini skirt. She had on matching blue gloves also with fur trim. She probably had the same skin problem Ember had, except her hands were super cold not super hot. Her skin was VERY pale where-as Ember's is tan-ish.

"Icicle re-named the organization the Ice Dancers. She insists that everyone in the group call her the Ice Princess/ Ice Queen/ Frost Queen, ect. She has a lot of names. Ember does to. The newspaper has so many articles on her that they started calling her 'the phoenix' and I'm sure you know why." Jim explained.

"Yeah…The whole fire-bird thing. We know." Kimiko said.

"Anyway we need to go after Ember. Find out where she's heading. In the meantime, we're going to have to interrogate him." Bob said pointing to master Fung. "You've been hiding a fugitive, and whether you knew it or not, we still have to question you."

"Oh and you," Jim pointed to me. "I'm sure your wondering why I wasn't in my uniform the night Ember arrived at your temple. Well I was off duty when I caught her robbing my favorite doughnut place."

Well that cleared up everything. But still, I just couldn't except the fact that my girlfriend was on America's most wanted!

Master Fung went off with Bob and Jim told us that he had to go after Ember. We decided to help him. After all, the Phoenix was on the loose, and it was all our fault.

**Um…DUN DUN DUN! All along Ember was the bad one and Jim was the good one. For those wondering about Icicle, she won't be in this fic. However I'm trying to see if I can get her into a sequel or something. Review or I'll kill you! Well not quite, but you know the drill, REVIEW! Also, don't think this is the only twist. I've got a few more things up my sleeve, this is just the main thing.**


	11. Screw Flying Lessons

**Hey there. Sorry about not updating sooner. I would've but…well it's a REALLY long explanation so I won't bore you. Besides, I bet none of you even read this section. It's like your minds goes "Bold print, don't read it." Anyway, enjoy:**

We were back at the temple. Master Fung had to stay at the station, but we came back to look for "clues" as to Ember's where-abouts. So we searched the temple. We spilt into a bunch of groups. I was in a group with Jim and no one else. Lucky me.

"Was this her room?" Jim asked pointing to the curtain covering Ember's room.

"Yes." I said, my voice barely above a whisper. I still couldn't accept this. At all. Jim violently pushed the curtain out of the way and looked through the tiny room. It was just as it was before Ember came here. Except for one thing. There was a big yellow address book sitting on the mat, starring us in the face.

Jim picked it up and opened it. He flipped through it a lot and then a small note slid out. He picked it up curiously and we read it together:

_Well hello there Jim,_

_I guess you found me. Well almost. So go ahead, look around. I'm sure you'll find something in this here book interesting. See ya in hell._

_Much love,_

_The Phoenix._

_p.s. Did I mention that I am incredibly fascinated in mountains?_

Jim looked like he wanted to crumple the note but instead placed it in a small plastic evidence bag. It was strange though. The book wasn't there when we heard Ember scream. I guess she came back. I hope she didn't steal anything else…

Jim went back to the page where the note was. He scanned the long list of names and finally found what he was looking for. Circled in bright red was the Spicer's address. And next to the circle was a little smiley face sticking its tongue out. At least that cleared up the fact that she was defiantly the one who robbed the Spicer's. But still I had my doubts. I just refused to accept this all.

"Well isn't she nice?" Jim snarled slamming the book shut. I didn't answer. I hated him putting her down like this. The fire in me just elevated and if he weren't a cop I think I would've strangled him. But I settled for glaring.

"What?" He asked. "What's so appealing about her? She's an ego maniac for one. Did you know that one time she let me capture her, just so she could melt her way out of prison? Guess we shouldn't have put her in a cell with metal." He paused for a minute, as if in deep thought. "And she doesn't own a single object that wasn't stolen. All her clothes, her possessions, even her hairbrush were all stolen. That material her clothes were made out of was a prototype. I mean you think she could create something like that on her own? Even her signature black bag is made out of the stuff. It's like she refuses to buy anything."

"Well she is a thief." It was the only thing I could think to say.

Jim just snorted in response. "But really though, what's there to like about her?"

I didn't respond at first. I turned my back to him and sullenly answered, "She was my girlfriend."

"Oh…" He said with slight sympathy in his tone. "Well I think I know where she is. It's like a game to her. She always leaves these little clues." He changed the subject.

"Where is she?" I asked, back still turned.

"I think she's heading for the Himalayas. Why else would she say something about mountains?" It made sense. The tallest mountain in the world was in the Himalayas. But why was Ember going there? I guess we would find out. We rounded up the group and set out for the journey.

-Somewhere in China. No POV.-

A fire-haired female was poorly piloting a silver unidentified flying object. To put it simply, Ember was trying to figure out how to control the silver manta ray. And she wasn't doing a very good job.

"Damn machine!" She exclaimed as she was thrown forward. Ember wasn't one for wearing seatbelts and smashed into the window. Luckily it didn't break. "How do you fly this thing?" She thought out loud.

As she fell back into the chair her brown construction boots hit the steering wheel and the vehicle started plummeting forward. With out hesitating she grabbed the wheel and shoved it forward. The wu leveled out and coasted along the clouds.

"Phew." She sighed in relief. She decided to just screw flying lessons and hurry towards the Himalayan mountains on auto-pilot. She knew the others would get the clue and she had to get there fast.

After reaching her destination she deactivated the manta ray. The she shrunk it down with the changing chopsticks and put it in her big black bag. That's how she accomplished the big "job." She shrunk everything down and stuffed it in her bag.

She climbed the snowy mountain on foot for a bit before turning into a bird, grabbing the bag in her talons, and flying for miles. What she didn't know was that she would company alot sooner than she expected.

**Things will get very interesting soon. I'm still working out a few more details so updates may be slow. Anyway, I was wondering, how do you all think this will turn out? Think she'll get away? Think it was some elaborate set-up by Icicle or something? I just want to know what you think Seemingly Innocent has in store. Review on your way out. After all, why should I continue if I don't know what you think about it?**


	12. Anything but What I Expected

**I'm updating again! And I'm going to have A LOT of computer time this week, so I'll probably be updating loads of times! R&R and enjoy:**

-Over the mountains. Rai's POV.-

As soon as we learned the location of the phoenix we set out in helicopters on our way to the Himalayas. Any other situation and I would've loved the ride. But we weren't there for fun. We were there to look for a dangerous criminal.

The helicopters had some little instrument on it that sensed changes in temperature through the sky. Jim had explained that Ember traveled in her phoenix form, so this little device could find and track her. It kind-of looked like those little radars that you find on submarines. And it kept beeping…and beeping…and beeping.

But despite the beeping I was able to enjoy myself just a little bit. The view below was amazing. The mountains were covered in a thick icy blanket. I know it doesn't sound like much, but it was beautiful.

Suddenly the radar started beeping a lot faster and louder. Looking at the machine we saw that she was somewhere close. We started to pick up speed and the beeping grew louder. That little blinking dot was getting to me.

After, of say a mile, the dot stopped moving. It was still blinking and everything but it wasn't moving, and we were close to it. We flew in closer and there she stood. A bag on shoulders and smug look on her face.

She smiled up at us for a minute. It was strange. But then I realized while we were looking at her smile she was removing her glove. And before we had time to move the fireballs came.

"Incoming!" She shrieked all innocent sounding. The fire hit hard and knocked us off course. The helicopter instantly warmed up. It was getting unbearably hot in there. We spun out of control. As I struggled to break free from my seat belt and saw in the distance that Ember was running away.

The 'copter hit ground and we tumbled away. Finally it rolled on it side. Jim kicked in the glass and we all scurried out of the burning wreckage.

"You children okay?" Jim asked once we were all out. We nodded in return. I kept nodding though, I was distracted. We were thisclose to catching Ember. She was only like a mile away. But we had no transportation or anything.

But that didn't stop me.

I took off with out warning to where I think she went. The group starred dazed for a minute before leaping into action.

"Rai! What are you doing?" Kimiko shouted. I didn't answer I just kept running. I went into my wudai form and started flying. Now I was much faster.

"Hey kid! Hey! UGH!" Jim shouted in frustration. I'm not sure, because I never looked back, but I think they started following me. It was snowing and foggy though, there wasn't a way that they would catch up soon.

What seemed like an eternity was how long it took me to reach her. But I did find Ember. Somehow I got lucky.

She was still a human when I caught up. Over the crunch of the snow beneath her feet, she never heard me coming. I was exhausted but it didn't stop me from shouting, "Mary Smith!"

She froze in her tracks and slowly turned on her heals. She looked at me for a minute then spoke, "No one's called me that in years."

"Well…it is your name." I choked. I couldn't think of any thing to say. Seeing her like this just made me have so much hatred towards her. But I still had feelings for her. And because of those emotions I was hating myself for hating her. Emotions make no sense.

"It was my name." She corrected me and came closer. "I'm Ember now and always will be. I am also the phoenix. Feared wherever I go." She added with a smile.

"You don't scare me." I lied. True, I wasn't exactly shaking in my boots, but I did have respect for her. And also fear. I had seen photos and news clips, I knew what she was capable of.

She let out a small laugh and came closer. We were close enough that I could reach out and touch her if I wanted to. The snow, which had picked up, fell on us. Except there was a difference. I was covered in it. But whenever a little flake landed on Ember it sizzled and evaporated away. I'm serious. It really sizzled!

"So where's the rest of your tour group?" She asked with a smile. Everything was a joke to her.

"Why'd ya do it?" I asked back.

"Do what?"

"Everything! Why did you steal from us? Why did you become a thief? Why would you kill just to get money?" I just exploded.

"I've never killed." Was her simple answer.

"Jim said you burned down a school. He said six were injured, and four critically injured."

"That's not dead." She still defended herself.

"And you know what? Who gave you the right? What makes you think you can just do whatever you want?" I demanded.

"Rai, are you a freak?" She asked. I stood there shocked.

"What?"

"Are you a freak?" She asked again. "And outcast? Left alone? Not cared about? You see Rai, I am a freak. I've been illegally experimented on and as much as I want to just give everything back, I can't. I need what I steal. I try to fit into society but it doesn't work."

"Yeah well…being experimented on isn't a big deal. It's no excuse." I said.

"Oh really? You think? I guess you're right. It was just like a dentist appointment. Except I was strapped down. And instead of getting the crap drilled out of my teeth I was being injected with incredibly dangerous and unstable chemicals. Oh yeah and don't forget to replace the dentist with a crazy science-reject!" She shouted loudly.

"I-I…I didn't…" Was all I could stutter.

"And to make it worse, I am alone Rai! I don't have any family!"

"Yes you do. You lied to us at the temple. Your dad is still alive." I told her.

"Yeah well he's dead to me." She scoffed. And then turned on her heals and started to leave.

"Hey!" I yelled on grabbed her shoulder. YOUCH! It was hot! She turned around and I expected her to…Well I don't know what I expected her to do but she did anything BUT what I expected.

She kissed me.

She really did. She kissed me. Not a small peck either, it was passionate. And with out thinking I just closed my eyes and let her. I deepened the kiss slightly and wrapped my arms around her waists.

And just as quickly as it started, it ended. She kneed my right in the groin. Really hard. I fell to my knees and looked up just long enough to see her before she left. And she was…crying. The tears didn't fall very long before melting away, but there was no doubt in my mind she was crying.

"Goodbye Rai." She practically whispered. She turned around and bolted. As she picked up speed her body was engulfed in flame and pretty soon the all-familiar bird was flying away, bag in talons.

"Ember." I whispered softly. And I just lay there, sobbing her name over and over into the snow until the others finally found me…

**That last part there is pretty much the scene that started this story. It's a really long explanation of how Seemingly Innocent came to be what it is today, but it's also some-what interesting (At least I think so.) so if you want the story just PM me and I'll gladly tell. But as I said, it's looooong. Anyway please review! Reviews make my self-esteem go up. (smiles.)**


	13. The Offer

**I told you I would be update-crazy this week! Here's the next chapter. It's pretty short but it's INCREDIBLY important. R&R and enjoy:**

By the time the rest of the croup found me I was completely soaked. I was too tired to move and I just didn't have the will to either, so I had laid in the snow the whole time Ember ran off. And the snow practically buried me.

About a mile from where the helicopter crashed was an abandoned log cabin. Actually, I'm not even sure if it was abandoned, or the owners were just out. The place was clean and well stocked. We got pretty lucky.

Since I was freezing to death we lit a fire, got some blankets from the helicopters emergency kit, which didn't burn up like everything else did, and made hot cocoa, which was already in the house.

So I just sat there all bundled up starring at the fire. Next to it was my clothes. I had to change because my clothes were soaked from the snow. My eyes shifted to the wet clothing. I turned away after a second but quickly did a double-take. There was something in my back pants pocket.

I slowly got out of the rocking chair and looked around. The coast was clear. So I leaned forward and grabbed the pants and examined the pocket. Usually it's the pocket I kept my wallet in. But that wasn't there which meant Ember had taken it when we were…making out. But she had replaced it with something. I pulled it out. It was a note, and it was defiantly from her. I recognized the hand writing. It read:

_Rai,_

_This hasn't been an easy decision but after much thinking I decided. You see normally when I stay with people, as I did with you monk dudes, I just rob 'em and leave. But the temple was different. No, you were different. I always liked you from the begging, you were special or something. And I know you always liked me. 'Course maybe not so much anymore, Anywho I'll get to the point. It was tough leaving you guys, you in particular. So I'll make you an offer. Join me. Alright so I know that's like a total star-wars moment, but I mean it. I would like you to be my partner-in-crime. (literally.) I know right now you're probably thinking "I would never!" but give it some thought. Think of the benefits. You know like, everything you ever wanted, adventure, ect. Just think about the offer. I'm not really the sensitive type or anything, but I miss you._

_Much love,_

_Ember_

_p.s. If you are interested, meet me in LaGuardia airport in New York. You'll know me when you see me. Let's just say I'll stick out. And go ahead and tell Jim where I'm going. It only adds to the fun!_

I read through the note about five times. This was…weird. She wanted me to join her? New York, what was she doing there? I had so many questions but there was still something I had to answer.

Did I want the "job"? My first response was of course NO! But then I started thinking. But quickly stopped. She was a thief, it wasn't right. But I have to admit…I was tempted. But I had once been tempted before. Wuya almost killed my friends because I joined her for riches. And here Ember was offering the same things. But no. Ember was not like Wuya. I couldn't compare the two. But still…

So there I was. Trying to answer the question. Do I stay here and do what's right? Or become a master thieves apprentice?

**Um…DUN DUN DUN! Alright so I can't think of any little clever A/N so just review, kay?**


	14. The Answer

**A rather short chapter but still very important. Enjoy:**

-LaGuardia airport, New York.-

"I'm gonna go to the bathroom…" I lied the second we got off the plane. I made some story about Ember telling me that she was going to New York. It wasn't exactly a lie, but I never told then how I really found out.

I hurried through the terminal weaving between the people. And after a few minutes I realized something; I had no idea where I was going or who I was looking for. I had made up my mind, but now that I was lost I had more time to reflect on it. I knew it was wrong. Very wrong. But it wasn't like the Wuya situation. She was after power and world domination, I mean she almost got my friends killed! Ember may not follow the law but she isn't like that. At least that's what my feelings told me.

I looked around frantically. Where was she? She said she would stand out, but what did that mean? She already stood out on a regular basis! I decided that looking worried wasn't a good idea and with difficulty forced myself to act calm.

I walked through the airport studying everyone and everything. Nothing really stood out. I reached one of the bathrooms and decided I should go. I guess I didn't actually lie to Jim. But when I got to the door something wasn't right. I felt…watched.

I looked around and the nearest person was this girl. A really strange looking girl. She spiked up green hair, tons of piercing, big black sunglasses the blocked her eyes, fishnet stockings, black gloves, and one of the outfits that looks like a school-uniform. Of course she had the make-up to match it. She reminded me of Jack some-what. (A/N: I was kinda going for a goth-like-look there, but I'm terrible with labels so yeah…)

But there was something different. I couldn't tell at first. But then I realized it just from the face. The same plain face I'd seen multiple times. No doubt in my mind, this was Ember in disguise.

"Hey…" I said causally walking over.

"What took so long?" She snapped. Oh yeah, defiantly Ember.

"Well sorry!" I said sarcastically. "Why are you dressed like that? Why not pick a less…strange disguise."

"This is New York, Rai, this look is hardly strange." Ember replied. "Anywho, did you make up your mind?" She asked eagerly.

"Yes…" I said slowly. A million thoughts went through my head as I said it.

"And?"

"I'm with you." I said. Three words that would forever follow me.

**Tsk tsk Rai. If only he didn't have feelings for her. Well that's it for most of the surprises. The last (big) one will be in the final chapter. As for that last line "Three words that would forever follow me" That is important! Remember it! Anyway review please! I mean I really don't understand why people don't review if they read the story. I mean HELLO, do you want me to continue? I mean obviously yes, but people should really review because (keeps rambling.) (five hours later.) Thus concluding my "review-rant." Having said all that, REVIEW! **


	15. Fly Us Out of Here

**Sorry bout being a slow updater. I'm lazy! I have to say my new story really took off well. I recommend you read it if you haven't already. Anyway next chapter:**

"We should get going." I said after a minute. "Jim is here an-" I started but ember cut me off,

"And it's only a matter of time before he finds us." She finished. "Now, you are sure about this, right?"

"As sure as possible anyway."

"Good enough." She said and grabbed my hand with her gloved one and yanked me away from the bathroom. Too bad, I really did have to go!

"Stay behind me. Walk fast, but not so fast that it looks like you're running away from something. Keep your head to the front and don't look around. Follow me, don't get lost and we should be okay." She explained. She let go of my hand and started walking away very fast. And jogged up behind her and followed as I was instructed. I didn't like this so far…

A few minutes later I began to relax. We were doing fine. No one looked at us. No one stopped us. And we were almost at the exit. Everything would be okay.

Or so I though. At the exact moment Ember reached the door a voice same from behind us.

"Raimundo there you are!" It was Kimiko.

"Don't look back." Ember commanded. Too late. I looked back. Kimiko, Clay, Omi, and Jim were all approaching us. And when they saw me they started running.

"You idiot!" Ember yelled and grabbed my hand again, jerked open the door, and started sprinting, pulling me along for the ride.

"Where we going?" I shouted as we weaved through cars and people. We were in parking lot going a million miles per hour.

"We have to get to the city! I booked a hotel room!"

"You booked a hotel room?" I asked as I narrowly avoided a car.

"Yes! But don't worry I've done this before, we won't get caught!" She let go of my hand and ran over to the exit gate. Ember grabbed her bag and started searching through it.

"What are you looking for?" I gasped for air as I caught up. She didn't answer. She kept looking until she pulled up two things I recognized. The changing chopsticks and the silver manta ray.

"This!" She answered. "Changing chopsticks!" The mini-manta-ray grew back to normal size and she thrust it in my hand.

"Um…Silver manta ray…?" I activated it, confused as to what to do. The wu grew into the familiar flying machine I'd seen many times.

"You know how to fly this thing?" Ember asked.

"Yeah," I nodded.

"Then fly us out of here!" We boarded the 'ray and I sat in the driver's seat. Un-sure of what to do.

"Hurry! They're coming!" Ember yelled. I turned to my left to see that Jim and my friends were running towards us.

"Okay!" I snapped back, grabbed the wheel, presses some buttons and we took off.

"You can't run away forever, Ember! I'll get you one day!" Jim shouted from below.

"Uh-huh right." She yelled back. Jim started to shout something else but we were already flying away at top speed. No one could see us or hurt us.

"Um so…Where to?" I asked after flying for a while.

"Just keep flying. I'll tell you when we reach it." Ember replied and kicked back in her seat. "Rai…"

"Yeah…"

"Thanks." She said after a pause.

"Erm, your welcome." I said. It didn't seem like much at first but then I realized something; Ember NEVER said thanks. This meant something…

--

We reached the hotel and checked in. No one questioned us. Ember had signed in with the name Mary Smith, her real name. I guess it was common enough to use an alias.

"Oh Rai, there's something you should know." Ember said as we reached our room.

"Okay." I said and waited for the news.

"You see, I didn't really think you would say yes to being my partner…So the room…Well…It only has one bed."

**Hehehehehehehehe. I couldn't resist limiting them to one bed. Aw come on! Don't gimme that look! Review and please check out my new story!**


	16. The Hotel Room

**I really have to stop being so lazy and update more. Enjoy:**

Ember opened the door to the room and we walked in. It was just like a normal hotel room because, well, that IS what it was! And she didn't lie, there was only one bed.

"So…" I started.

"What?" She asked impatiently.

"What are we going to do for sleeping arrangements?" I asked.

"Stay on your side that's what. Unless you wanna sleep in the chair." Ember said nodding at a chair in the corner. "Which might be the best choice considering my 'skin condition'"

"Alright I'll test it out." I walked over to the chair and lowered myself in. OW! It was the most uncomfortable thing I have ever had the misfortune of sitting on. It was like sitting on stone. If someone fell on this chair head-first they would get one serious concussion.

"Judging by your face I would say it's not comfy." She noted.

"Well you would be right." I winced and got up.

"Well then…Stay on your side, cause I am NOT sleeping on the floor." Well neither am I, I thought to myself. She made her way over to the bed and took her bag off, un-did the locks and spilled the contents onto it.

It was a strange assortment of things. I was glad I got to finally see inside but it wasn't much. Of course there was the big pile of shrunken shen gong wu. Two wallets, one I recognized was mine, and the other which must've been hers. Hers was stuffed full with cash and was about to explode there was so much. In fact there was also some loose cash floating around in there, along with stolen credit cards. Folded up neatly in the bag was some clothing, including her regular outfit, (remember she's in disguise.) the dress she wore on our date, and a couple of other things. The second the clothes hit the bed they unraveled and were no longer neatly folded. There was a small bag with some make-up in it, a bunch of jewelry that was probably stolen and last but not least a cell phone and some other junk.

"Some of the wu are missing." I noted as I walked over to her.

"That's because I sold them. These things go for at least hundreds." She smiled. "Now where's the cell phone? Ah! There it is." She picked it up from the pile.

"Where'd ya get a cell phone from?" I asked trying to make conversation.

"Stole it…From Jim." She answered.

"Can't he trace it?"

"Nope. I've made sure of it." She flipped open the phone and hit number three on speed-dial. As if she read my mind she added, "I'm calling my sister. It's like a competition, whenever one of us pulls off a big 'job' we call the other to brag about it." They may be two thieves, but they still have sibling rivalry.

I sat down on the bed and watched Ember pace around quickly waiting for Icicle to pick up the phone. The volume was up so loud I could hear it ringing. Finally she picked up,

"Hello?" I could still hear her, that defiantly meant to volume was up to high. Her voice was calm cool and collected. She kinda spoke in a I'm-smarter-than-you-tone. She must've been full of herself. Amazing what you can tell from one word. Icicle also spoke with no accent. She to must've lost it when they ran away from home.

"Hey there misses frosty. How's your husband doing? That big ole snowman melt yet?" Ember joked around.

"Hilarious Ember." Icicle responded with no enthusiasm. "What are you calling me for?"

"What I can't just call my one and only sister to say 'hi'? There has to be a catch?" she asked angrily.

"With you, yes." Icicle responded. This girl was defiantly calm. She sounded like she never got ticked.

"Well it just so happens that I pulled off the biggest raid yet. Got myself a couple of magical artifact things that sell for tons of cash."

"Magical artifacts?" She repeated. "Ember you know I don't believe in fairytales and things."

"Eve, you're a walking pile of snow. How can you doubt such things?" Ember said using Icicle's real name.

"Because, Mary," She started. Ember cringed at this. Neither liked their real names. "Our father experimented on us. It's not some natural cause. Speaking of which, I visited our father a few weeks ago."

Ember froze for a minute. She had been pacing but she stopped. "He say anything I might wanna know?" She had softened up. Before she was talking in a slightly annoyed tone.

"No. The man's insane you know."

"Tell me about it." Ember replied.

"No I mean he really is. Being separated from us really put a strain on his mental health." Icicle explained.

"Well he put a big enough strain on MY mental health! He deserves it!" Ember went back to being angry. I found it interesting that Ember had fire powers and was always angry. Icicle had ice powers, and was always cool and calm. They really matched their elements.

"He was a drunken fool."

"That's no excuse!" She practically screamed. "Jus' because that hick went and got hisself all drunk and what-not ain't no freakin' reason to take it out on his kin! Now if you'll excuse me I have to go! Bye!" She snapped the phone shut. I simply gawked at her.

"What?" She asked readying a fireball. She was not in a mood to be messed with right now. I had to pick my words carefully.

"It's just I've never heard you talk…like…like you were from the south." I said slowly.

"Well I am from Texas!" She said calming down slightly.

"I know that but I thought you lost your accent."

"Look I slip into it when I'm mad okay? Is that such a crime?" I found it ironic that a thief would use that phrase. I shook my head "no." And she started putting her stuff back in the bag. I helped her out.

The sun was about to set and we passed the rest of the day watching T.V. and talking. Ember had room service bring us some food. And although I was happy about getting to eat, it wasn't very cool when the lady starred at us and then the bed. She must've thought we were two crazy teens sneaking away to a hotel to do…stuff. The first part was right anyway. We WERE two crazy teens as far I was concerned.

"It's getting late." I yawned after finishing my third helping of pizza. Ember pretty much ordered only junk food, which was fine by me.

"It is." She nodded. "Go lock up the room while I slip into my pajamas." She got off the bed, where we were sitting, grabbed her bag and went into the bathroom. I locked all the locks on the door. There were three, can you believe it?

When Ember came out I was pretty shocked. I don't know what I was expecting. Maybe a top and bottom, just something "modest" I guess. But I should've known not to expect that from Ember. Instead she was wearing a skimpy, silk, dress like outfit that looked a lot like the outfit she wore on our date, only it was for sleeping in.

I guess I may have been looking at her funny because she said, "Designer pajamas. Nice isn't it?"

"Yeah…It's beautiful." I suddenly felt very awkward. I didn't bring any clothes. I had to sleep in my normal outfit.

"Well…G'night." She said and leaned forward and kissed me. This time it was a little longer than our first kiss, and my lips felt very warm when she pulled away. "Don't try anything when I'm sleeping." She said slipping under the covers and turning off the light.

"Wouldn't dream of it." I said getting in FAR on the other side. I wasn't lying either. True, I liked Ember. I suppose you could even say a lot. But I didn't want to be near her right now. She did have that "skin condition" as she called it.

I closed my eyes and tried to catch some Z's. It was impossible. My mind was in overdrive analyzing the whole situation. How could anyone sleep through a day like this? My answer came from Ember who was sleeping away. She was breathing kinda heavily, not quite snoring, but almost. I'm not sure how but it was like hypnotic, and I slowly drifted asleep…

**There done. I had to get Icicle in there somewhere. She's just to cool I guess. I've been working on ideas for a sequel. So far I've come up with some pretty good ones. If I do write a sequel, Icicle will be in it, and not just on the phone. Well Review please!**


	17. A Rude Awakening

**I update again. Joy. R&R:**

-dream-

_I was being tortured. They were scratching me. Beating me. Whipping me. And just when I thought it couldn't get any worse, it did. They, the torturers, brought out four wooden stick like things. The four of them each took one. The started a fire and lit them. Now I knew. The sticks were torches. With one quick movement they touched the torches to my FACE! The burning sensation was awful. I screamed. So painful…so painful…so… _

"OW!" I screamed slapping at face, as I abruptly woke up. It hurt really bad, like it was…burning. I instantly opened my eyes to find that Ember had rolled over in her sleep and had her hands to my face. Figures. The ONE and ONLY night she takes off those gloves to go to bed, is the night she rolls over and torches my face.

"I didn't steal it I swear!" Ember shouted, startled. I guess she wasn't used to waking up like this. In fact she was so shocked she flipped over backwards and fell off the bed.

"Ember!" I scrambled to edge of the bed and peered over the side. She was on her back looking annoyed and in pain, but otherwise she looked okay, despite the bed hair. Her pajamas also got messed up in the fall, and the little short skirt of hers was pulled up so much she was almost revealing herself. Almost. "You okay?" I asked.

"Never better." She scowled, her voice heavy with sarcasm. I grabbed her hand and pulled her up onto the bed.

"Good morning." I said with fake enthusiasm.

"Shut up." Owch. Not a morning person. Suddenly the phone started to ring. Ember grabbed it after half a ring and jammed the phone to her ear, "Whaddya want? I didn't ask for no damn wake-up call so leave me the hell alone unless it's important!" Oh yeah. Defiantly not a morning person.

I crawled over to her and put my ear close to phone. We were a team now and this included me.

"Rise and shine beautiful." Said the person on the phone. The voice sounded familiar… "You better get up and get busy. After all, you've got places to run and jails to visit." Now I got it! It was,

"Jim." Ember answered. "How'd ya get this number?"

"I'm a cop, I have my ways." Jim answered. I pressed my ear closer, it was hard to hear.

"And you're calling us because?" She demanded, still annoyed I noted.

"Us? So it's true. You really did corrupt the Brazilian. For a while I thought he may have been your hostage or something…" I wanted to say something really badly, but I didn't know what so I held my tongue.

"Jim, make your point!" She yelled. The phrase "angrier by the second" was invented for Ember, I'm sure of it. And "cool as a cucumber" seemed to fit Icicle pretty well too.

"My point is, I know where you are and I'm on my way, almost there actually, so start running."

"Why are you warning me?" She asked, her voice softening.

"You're not the only one who likes to have fun on the job." He answered, and if he were standing right there I know he would be smirking. A gentle "click" was heard and the phone went dead.

There was a pause and then Ember spoke, "Get your things. We're leaving."

**Not the best chapter, and not the best cliffy. I would've gone further but it's late. This whole chapter just kinda came to me one day so excuse the whole Jim calling her thing. I know the chances of any of those Jim things ever happening in real life is very unrealistic. But I had the whole "wake up call" thing already in my mind so yeah. Anyway, my self-esteem has been a lil low lately, due to reasons I won't bore you with, so leave me lots of nice reviews to boost it! I love all my reviewers! (sees the readers looks.) What? NOT LIKE THAT! Sheesh! Anyway, review!**


	18. Always Running

**Hey there all you lovely people. I finished my parody yesterday, so if you've been reading that now you know that it's done. Anyway with that out of the way I might start one of the stories on my profile soon, so check those out and tell me if you like the way they sound. Or I might wait 'till this is done to write them though. Enjoy:**

After the phone call Ember and I were whirl winding around the room getting ready as fast as possible and stuffing all the hotel "freebies" in Ember's bag. I was pretty much ready to go after five minutes, but Ember was taking forever. She even stopped to apply a little make-up! Women!

Finally Ember burst out of the bathroom, and started for the door. She had her gloved hand on one of the locks. She started to un-lock it and then,

"Open the door it's the police!" Jim had caught up with us, and was now pounding on the door. Ember stopped dead in her tracks. I expected her to turn around and yell "run" and we'd do something crazy to get out of there. But I underestimated her. She had a plan.

"Help me get that chair over here." She demanded nodding at the uncomfortable chair I almost slept in. I did as I was told and helped her lug that giant thing over to the door. That thing was hard AND heavy!

We put the chair on front of the door and turned and spoke to me,

"You control the wind right?"

"Right." I answered.

"Good. The only was out is through that window." She pointed. "It's twenty stories up so I hope you can use your wind powers and fly or something."

"I can do that." I replied. I can't exactly fly, but I can propel myself forward with the wind, which is basically flying. "What about you?"

"Rai you should know by now I always have a plan. After I jump, then you go, I'll wait for you at the bottom. Now get ready!" She said. Wait, jump? She was gonna jump? Out of the window? In a twenty story high building? Is she crazy?

Ember backed up against the chair and stood there for a moment. I was really freaking out now. And Jim rattling the door didn't help. Ember suddenly started running before I could dart forward and stop her. I was NOT letting her jump.

But then I saw what she was doing. The room was small, but it was just big enough for her to pick up speed. When she reached the bed in the corner, she had already caught fire and took on her bird form. She grabbed the bag in her talons and crashed through the window. Glass shattered everywhere and rained down to the earth. I wondered if she was okay, but I had bigger problems right now; Jim had got the door down, and was now struggling with the chair.

"Freeze!" He yelled, but I ignored him. I ran towards the window, hesitated a second, then jumped out.

"Wudai star wind!" I the wind caught me right before I hit the ground. I lowered myself down, and looked up towards the window. I saw a small figure, Jim, stand there for a minute then walk away. He must be going out the front door.

After a quick glance around I saw Ember running in the distance. So much for waiting for me. I took off after her and caught up in a few seconds, which was odd because she's usually faster, cause she's ALWAYS running. But then I realized she did wait for me! She was going slower then usual. Of course when I caught up, we had to speed up.

After running a few blocks a voice came from behind,

"Stop!" Jim was catching up. Ember grabbed my hand with her gloved one and yanked me to the left. We made our way up the busy Manhattan block swerving through people. We reached an old lady opening the door to her car, I thought we run right by her, but Ember had other plans. She **pushed** the lady out of the way, took her keys and got in the car! She just pushed an old lady!

Running purely on adrenaline my mind clicked into survival mode and I got in on the other side of the car.

Breathing heavily I asked, "Do you know how to drive?"

Ember didn't answer for a sec. She examined the steering wheel, and then jammed the keys in the ignition. "Can't be that hard. Plus, I'm a pretty fast learner." She turned the keys and the car started. We were about to go on a ride I never forgot…

**That Ember. I wanted to go further, but I thought of more ideas so the chapter would've been really long. Also, originally Ember was going to jump into the car through the window and hot-wire it, but that seemed a lil too…over the top. Well review on your way out, and as I said earlier check out the story ideas on my profile and tell me if you like 'em!**


	19. Car Chase

**I haven't updated in so long. Sorry. Chase scenes are Harrrrd. DON'T GIMME THAT LOOK! YOU TRY WRITING ONE!**

**Anyway R&R and enjoy:**

"AH!" Ember exclaimed as she backed the car into the one behind us. "Okay, okay, don't panic… Ah!" She screamed again as the car flew forward, bumping yet another car.

"Ember gimme that wheel!" I demanded.

"You can't drive!"

"I can drive the silver manta ray, how much harder can a car be?"

"NO! I'm the leader I drive!" She snapped back.

"Well hurry up cause Jim is about to catch us!" I yelled loudly. There was really no reason to yell, other than the fact that our brains had clicked into panic and survival mode.

Ember turned the wheel to right and floored it. We zoomed forward, still screaming, and nearly ran into an old lady. Imagine if we had hit it. Two old ladies in one day.

"Ahh!" She screamed and spun the wheel to the left, the car moaned and made screeching sounds on the pavement.

"Let me drive!" I shouted again.

"No!" She zoomed forward, forcing me back into my seat. We sped along through the busy Manhattan street, narrowly avoiding people and cars. The cars swerved, and the people jumped to safety, it was horrible. But despite the fact that Ember was driving like a maniac, both us were screaming at the top of our lungs, and we were practically hitting everything, we were doing okay.

We hadn't hit anyone yet, and we almost had a clear shot at the highway, and then it happed.

First we heard the siren.

Then came the gun shots.

_BANG!_

The bullet whizzed past my ear. One of my most frightening experiences. We didn't have to turn around to know that it was Jim shooting at us.

_Bang! Bang! Bang!_

More bullets came, each one just barely missing us. We finally reached the highway, and Ember went crazy. She was going ninety miles per hour, weaving between cars and truck. We were going to get hit. This was the end. All over.

But we didn't get hit…yet.

_Bang!_

As the bullet practically hit Ember, she jammed the wheel to the left, throwing us to the side. As we turned another car came up on our right. We were so close that their car scraped against the side of ours, and the door just peeled off! The door came off!

I jumped over to Ember side, so we were sitting in the came seat. We were screaming so loud now that we couldn't even hear it. I put my hands up on the wheel and tried to steady us. It was starting to get very hot in there. Curse Ember and her mutated skin.

"Go right!" I shouted and pulled the wheel my way.

"No! Just give me the wheel!" Ember persisted and pulled it her way. She turned her head back to the road, and her eyes nearly bulged out of her sockets.

"What?" I asked, then I turned. "Oh. My. God!"

The rest of the trip is a blur to me. All I remember was seeing the railing of the highway, and breaking through it. We tumbled down the hill and we were thrown from the car out the open door. Somehow after all of it, we were completely unharmed. Anyway, we hit the ground hard and passed out…

"Get up!" Ember yelled when she woke up. My eye flew open and I bolted up looking around scared. I couldn't remember anything at the time, but it quickly came back to me.

"Where's Jim?" I asked, hoping we weren't caught.

"Who cares?" She retorted and reached into her bag. She came back up with golden tiger claws.

"Why didn't we use those before?" I screamed, annoyed.

"Because we were to busy running!"

"Well we wouldn't have had been running if we had used them!" I countered.

"Shut up! I make the rules! Live with it!" Ember yelled.

"Fine!" I yelled back. It wasn't fair, but I knew she didn't mean it. So far I had some say in what we did, we were both just a little shaken up right now.

"Golden Tiger Claws!" She ripped open the portal and motioned me to go in.

"Where are we going?"

"You'll see." She said and shoved me into the purple vortex…

**Cliffy. This story is starting to come to an end. There's still more to go, but well, as Ember said, you'll see. Anyway I need help.**

**I REALLY want to write my Unstoppable Sequel, In the Shadows.**

**But then there's this story idea I've had for months, that I said I would do next, The Fantasies of a Disturbed Mind.**

**And while I was writing that, I said I would also work on this other story idea I had that was really good, Through the Eyes of a crazy Person.**

**So should I do "In the Shadows," "The Fantasies of a Disturbed Mind," or "Through the Eyes of a crazy person?" I've thought about working on all three, but that's a little crazy. Well you can read a brief summary of them on my profile, so please help me decided.**

**NOW REVIEW!**


	20. Where Are We?

**I think everyone will like this chapter. Also, I am thinking about entering a short story contest, what do you guys think? Think I'll win? Well if I do enter, I'll tell you, and then If I win I'll tell you where the story can be found if you're interested. Anyway R&R:**

"Oof!" I uttered as I was thrown from the vortex and hit the ground, hard. I landed on my stomach and I couldn't see, but so far I had figured out a few things. For one, the ground was pretty hot, as was the environment. I was laying in something that was kinda soft, and also gritty. I immediately recognized it; sand.

I was about to get up when I heard something "Ahh!" Ember screamed as she was launched from the portal. She landed on top of me pinning me down. I turned over onto my back and faced her.

"Hi." I said with fake enthusiasm.

"Hello." She said back and planted a small kiss on my lips.

"What was that for?" I asked surprised.

"I need an explanation, do I? Well excuse me for thinking I could kiss my boyfriend whenever I darn pleased!"

"Sorry, I didn't mean it like." I told her. "I was just a little…shocked." There was an awkward silence. "Um…could you…um… get off?"

"Oh right…" She said uncomfortably and slid off my chest and onto the sand. I wouldn't have minded her being like that if she wasn't a walking fire ball. I feel bad for her. I really do. Even while wearing clothes she still burns everything she touches.

"So…where are we?" I asked I got up, trying to avoid an awkward silence. I noticed we were in a very sandy desert…

"Home sweet home," She said getting up, "Texas."

"Texas?" I repeated. Great, I hate Texas.

"Good ole Texas." She said taking a few steps into the desert.

"Where are we going?" I asked chasing after her.

"My house, and my secret stash, and into town to sell some of this wu. But first, a little detour…"

So she was going to sell even more wu…"Well…Can we keep some of the wu?" I asked filled with hope, forgetting about the detour.

"Some of 'em." Good to hear. "Now shut up and follow me."

After about twenty minutes of walking in the hot desert, we reached a building. It was a silver-ish in color and looked like a giant cube.

"Where are we?" I asked.

"The bank of Texas." Was Ember's simple answer.

"Bank?" I repeated loudly.

"Yes, the bank. You can put two in two together, can't ya?"

"You're gonna rob it?" I asked slowly.

"Pretty much, yep."

"How can you pretty much rob a bank?"

"Simple," She said and started pacing, "You sneak in through the back, disable some of the cameras, weave through the other security cameras, and fill your back pack with money." She explained.

"Yeah, real simple." I said sarcastically. "Am I going in to?"

"Nah. It's just a small job. I'm only taking a little not robbing the whole place. You wait out here, and have some wu ready just in case." She handed me some and started to walk towards the building.

"Hey Ember!" I shouted.

"Yeah?" She turned around.

"I um…I um…Well you see I…Who on earth would put a bank in the middle a desert?" I said quickly changing the subject. I almost said it…almost…

"Idiots would, that's who." She replied then headed back for the bank. I sat down on the hot sand and followed her with my eyes. There was nothing else around, so I didn't really have to keep watch, but I had the wu she gave me ready just in case.

When she reached the building she dug the kitten claws into the side of it and started climbing. It was pretty cool. Those kitten claws are one awesome wu.

Several minutes later I was bored out of my mind with nothing to do. I started to doodle in the sand with my fingers to pass the time. Suddenly, my cell phone went off. I immediately jumped in surprise, forgetting that I brought my cell with me, but calmed down quickly.

Now I had another dilemma, do I answer it? At first I thought "no," but where was the harm in answering? I could always hang up or something. So I slowly brought the phone to my ear, and flipped up the cover…

"Hello?" The person on the other end said.

"K-kimiko?"

**I really like this chapter. There's a lot of detail, not as much as some of my other stories, but whatever. It's another cliffy. And also there's that little bit with Raimundo almost saying something…I mean it's obvious what he wanted to say but you get it…And I've decided that I'm going to write all three stories at the same time. However, I'll be starting In the Shadows a little later than the first two because I haven't quite figured that one out completely yet. So tell me if you think I should enter the previously mentioned contest, and REVIEW!**


	21. Home Sweet Home

**I am soooo sorry for not updating sooner! I just couldn't motivate myself to write at all; it was weird. Finally I was able to convince myself because I missed getting reviews…R&R and enjoy:**

"K-kimiko?" I asked into the phone, my hands shaking.

"Rai?" She said back.

"It is you!" I gasped. "Why are you calling me?"

She hesitated before continuing. "Jim wants to make a deal…"

"What kind-of deal?" I asked slowly.

"He said…" Kimiko started then stopped.

"Well?" I asked getting impatient. Ember's attitude was starting to rub-off on me.

"He said, if you tell him where you are then he'll let you go free, no string attatched." She finished.

"What?" I asked shocked.

"He'll let you go free if you tell us where Ember is." I thought about the offer. I really did. As much as I didn't want to betray her, I did seriously think about doing it.

"Rai?" Kim asked, making sure I was there.

"Raimundo!" Came a voice in the distant. Ember was done and running towards me. Crap.

"Rai?" Kimiko asked again more frantically. With out a moment to spare I slammed the phone shut and shoved it in my pocket just as Ember caught up.

"We have to go." She said quickly and yanked me off the floor. It was a pretty painful movement, but my adrenaline had spiked and I barely felt it.

"Why? What happened?" I asked as she gathered out stuff.

"Just follow me!" She commanded and started running; again. Always running…

"Where are we going?" I asked as we sped through the sandy desert.

"You'll see!" She turned around and shouted at me, but kept running.

"Why is it always, 'you'll see?' why can't you ever give me a straight answer?" I asked annoyed. I stopped dead in my tracks and pulled her arm, hard. And since I was much stronger, she stopped. "Why don't you ever give me a straight answer?" I asked again.

"Because where's the fun in that?" She said through gritted teeth. I would've come back with some witty reply, but her fiery skin was getting to me, so I let go and let it be. After about a mile of running we stopped and started walking. We had been silent the whole time, not saying a word. But I continued to follow her, wherever she was going.

I was slowly behind sullenly kicking a stone I had found. That's when she mumbled something.

"What was that?" I asked Ember.

"Where here." She answered. I looked around. We were at a small lake. Behind the lake was a tiny wooden cabin.

"Well…where is here?" I asked confused.

She turned around and faced me. Threw her arms in the air and smiled wide, "Home. Home Sweet Home!"

**Hmm…pretty short and not too exciting, but I like the way this came out. REVIEW PLEASE! I'LL GIVE YOU COOKIES IF YOU DO! WHATEVER KIND YOU LIKE, I SWEAR!**


	22. Bizarre

**I was just going back and reading this story, and I had the sudden urge to update! Enjoy:**

"This is your home?" I asked Ember in shock.

"Yes. Well, no." She answered. "My actual house hasn't been lived in for years. When I was little my parents used to take the family up to this cabin."

"So you bought the house?" I asked.

"Me? Pay for something?" She laughed. "Of course I didn't buy it. In fact, I don't really own it. Our family sold the deed to some butcher years ago. Of course, I wouldn't stand for that! I wanted this house and I get what I want!" She said like a spoiled brat.

"So what did you do about it?"

She started smirking. "I did what I'm good at; I started spying on the butcher with the deed. Apparently he isn't very faithful to his wife. He's been cheating on her with another MAN for eight years!"

"Nice." I commented.

"So I black-mailed him, and he lets me live here. The deed is still in his name but he doesn't ever go here. He doesn't even have the key." She finished the story.

"You're black-mailing him? That's kinda mean."

"This coming from you? You stole a CAR from and OLD LADY!" She retorted.

"…Yeah but it was YOUR idea!" I argued back.

"Whatever." She brushed the comment off.

"How come you didn't just get another house somewhere? I mean I know it's a family heirloom and all but…"

"It's not an heirloom." Ember corrected me. "I just like it. It's a nice location and it's close to my stash."

"Your stash?" I asked.

"Yes. My secret money stash place. I store everything there." She answered.

"Where is it?" I asked, testing how much she would tell me.

"Well, there's a cave a couple of miles from here. You go waaaay to the back of the cave, move this giant stone blocking this tunnel, follow the tunnel about halfway. That's where I constructed a hatch-like tunnel leading down into a HUGE air pocket where I store everything."

"Very complicated." I noted.

"So the police won't find it. If there's one thing I gotta thank my no good sister and her league of 'ice-dancers' then it's that cave."

"Icicle built the storage area?" I asked, interested.

"We did, together. Back when we worked together." Ember told me.

"So, she's know where's your stash is!" I exclaimed.

"Yup."

"What if she robs us?"

"She won't. I know where her stash is. We don't rob each other, we compete with each other." She told me.

"But if we robbed her then you wouldn't have to compete!"

"No." Was her simple answer.

"No what?"

"That's not the way it works. You wouldn't get it. It's a sister thing."

"I might get it. I do have sisters, after all." Ember just glared at me.

"Let's go inside." She turned and headed for the cabin. I followed, slowly, taking in my surroundings.

The area was pretty sandy and dry, but a few meters away from the house was a big beautiful lake. I could tell that over the years most of it had evaporated away, but there's was still some left. Behind the small wooden cabin were a bunch of cacti. It was a simple little valley, but it was wonderful. There was even a small garden next to the house. Most of the flowers were however wilted and dead looking. I guess they weren't exactly taken care of on a regular basis. But still, what little color they had left help brighten up the place.

Ember had just walked in the house and the screen door was swinging shut. I grabbed the door, which Ember had left swing shut on me, and walked in. It was simple inside. Simple but nice.

"Hey Rai…" Ember started.

"Yeah?"

"I…I um…never mind." _Well that' bizarre…_

**Hmm…I wonder what she was going to say. I know there isn't much plot progressions here, but it's a nice long chapter from that little break of mine, eh? Well review please!**


	23. Awkward Moments and Bathroom Cabinets

**I update!**

"I…I um…never mind." Ember muttered and plopped down on a couch. It was small and brown. Simple, like everything else. I sat down with her. There was a T.V. in front of us. I kept expecting her to turn on but she didn't, and I didn't see a remote in sight. Ember looked as if she was in deep thought; a strange and rare sight. Through the time I've known her, she's never been in deep thought about anything. She thinks on her feet, and has a plan the second one is needed. To see her thinking like this was…eerie.

"So…" I said slowly trying to break the ice.

"So…" She said back.

"Um…So…How ya feelin'?" I continued.

"I'm feelin' fine, I guess. So…um…you?"

"Good." I nodded.

"Well um, good then." _Awkward_.

"Um…where's the bathroom?" I asked, starting to feel nervous, but I didn't know why.

"Down the hall; can't miss it." I got up from the leather couch and made my way down the hall. I passed the kitchen on way. It had simple tile for flooring and wall paper on the walls. The wall paper was starting to come off. Other than that it was just a fridge, a stove, and a very small amount of counter space.

I reached the door to the bathroom and went in. To my discomfort, the entire room was _pink_ and _red._ Ugh…

I finished up and was reaching for the door when I stopped. I starred at the cabinet above the sink. It had a mirror. So I stood there looking at my reflection thinking it over. Did I dare? Yes. I thrust open the doors.

"So what does a thief keep in her bathroom cabinet?" I said quietly. I looked through it quickly. I could see a toothbrush and all the other normal stuff. I moved some things around. Bad move.

"EW! GIRL STUFF!" I screamed and bolted out of there…and ran straight into Ember. We tumbled onto the floor and she shoved me off of her. So we just sat on the floor of the kitchen starring at each other. I was expecting her to blow up at me for snooping but instead she smiled.

"You're starting to think like a thief."

**I wanted to go further but decided against it. Hey, just wondering, do in-text author notes bother you? I know I do them a lot, and I'm trying to stop, but sometimes I can't help it. Anyway, R&R please!**


	24. Raimundo's Revelation

**I am such a bad updater. Well I promise that I'll be updating as much as I can these next few days! And if I can, I'll finish the story some time this week!**

-A few days later-

The days passed normally, nothing special. But Ember's words had hit me. Was I really beginning to think like a thief? I mean, snooping isn't stealing…but you don't steal something until you've snooped around for the good stuff. So maybe I was thinking like a thief…No. I've always been a good boy, a rebel yes, but I'm not evil!

"_But thieves aren't evil."_ A voice said in my head.

"_Yeah well they aren't exactly saints."_ I told it.

"_But even if they aren't, so what?"_ the voice asked me.

"_It um…I…I…STUPID VOICE!"_ I couldn't argue with it if I tried. So Ember's words had hit home; I really was becoming a thief. But, then again, I had to have known that would happen going into this…right? I mean, I'm not stupid…right? But I also fell for Ember's original disguise, so maybe I am stupid…Wait, No! EVERYONE fell for it at first! I'm not stupid!

"Rai what the hell are you doing?" Ember asked as she walked into the room, a soda can in hand.

"Huh? What?" I looked around. _Oh. Silly me._ I was sitting on the couch starring at an off T.V. I was just so spaced out in my little "world" that I didn't notice how weird I looked. "Oh, right." I laughed and turned on the T.V.

She sat down next to me and pulled the tab on the soda. It made the familiar noise as the fizz bubbled out. She took a sip and handed it to me, I eagerly took it; it was early and I hadn't eaten or drank anything.

"I was thinking about going into town later…" Ember slowly.

"Yeah?" I replied.

"Uh-huh." She nodded. "I think you should come. Desert Creek is really nice."

"Desert Creek? Is that what's the town called?"

"Yup."

"Cool."

-A few hours later-

"So this is the town?" I asked as we neared a small, sandy area filled with shops and stalls. Ember nodded. She was in her "gothic" outfit again; the people in town probably knew her and she didn't want them to know she was "the Phoenix." She also had her back-pack on. She never left that bag unguarded.

"So what are we doing here anyway?" I asked, eyeing the bag.

"Selling wu." She said. "And visiting an old friend." She added with a devilish grin and a wicked look in her eyes. I was a little scared about her face, but didn't say anything. Ember's vague with answers, and asking questions doesn't really get you anywhere.

We neared a large store with the words "Charley's Butcher shop" on it. It was simple, but something irked me about it. I just wasn't sure what. Ember walked right in and up to the counter, where a man was waiting for our order. There was no one else in the store; business was slow.

"So how ya doin' darling?" Ember asked in a seemingly-mocking manor as she approached the man. _Wait darling? Ember's MY girlfriend!_ (A/N: Possessive much, Rai!)

The guy, who had been starring at the counter, perked up and then saw Ember. His face drooped. "You're not Ted…" was all he said.

"Aw. Someone misses his wittle boyfriend! Eh Charley?" Ember said and laughed.

"Mary Leigh Smith, what can I do for you?" Charley asked, his words filled with venom. His arms were outstretched on the counter and he was resting his head on them; he looked bored.

"That's Ember to you." She growled and grabbed his arms with her un-gloved hands. I could tell he was in pain, but he tried to hide it. He didn't cry out or try and move.

"Fine. Ember then." He said through gritted teeth.

"Ember what?" She demanded to know.

"What can I do for you, Ember?" He seethed. This was practically painful to watch. I knew Ember could be cruel, but this was unnecessary.

"You can fix my roof; it's kind of leaky." Ember said calmly, releasing his arms.

"You can't black-mail me forever…I'll figure out some way to turn you in with out the cops knowing. I will." Charley declared.

"Sure you will." She said sarcastically. "Come on Rai." She nodded to the door. "Oh and Charley, tell your wife I said hi." Ember said.

"Get out!" Charley shot back.

We left the store and stood there in silence for a minute.

"So…your middle name is Leigh?" I asked. Ember scowled at me and started out for another shop.

"I'm gonna sell the rest of the wu. You can head home if you know the way." Ember told me. I did know the way, but I didn't go. I wanted to be with her.

For the first time since our "journey" things were going great. And I actually began to believe that we might be able to do this. We COULD do this.

If only things didn't get so screwed up…

**Just so you know, Desert Creek is just a town I made up. If there's actually a town called that, then cool, but I didn't base it on anything, in case you were wondering. I thought it would be cool to have Rai meet the butcher that owned Ember's house. Okay well all reviewers are showered with love!**


	25. The Calm Before the Storm

**Toldja I would update again soon! Next chapter is HERE:**

Our trip to town proved successful; through trade and other methods we sold every single one of our wu, except two. And the two were the shen gong roo and the gills of Hamachi, and we could really use them! Ember kept saying it was a good haul, whatever that means.

The trip back to the house was pretty fun to. Unlike the nearly silent trip there, the trop back was chatty and enjoyable. We exchanged stories and had a good time, despite the heat.

When we finally got home, we ate a couple of grilled cheese sandwiches, the only thing Ember knew how to cook, and watched T.V., which was pretty much the only thing to do for entertainment.

We watched until dark, and still kept it going. Having no bed time, is GREAT! As we neared the end of the new episode of _Wife Swap_ Ember began slowly scooting towards me. I didn't notice it at first, but soon enough she was resting her head on my shoulder. I didn't mind, I had long sleeves on, she wouldn't burn me. I shifted my position slightly, and moved so my arm was around her.

"Hey," She said dreamily.

"Hey," I smiled back and planted a small kiss on her lips. I pulled away and expected her to stay that way, but she surprised me with another kiss. And not a small one either, it lasted for a while.

I turned onto my back and put my hands around her waist. She kept kissing me, and I kept kissing her back. All was fine for a minute…and then came the burning. A dull sensation at first, but it kept growing. My body tingled with heat, and soon it became unbearable.

"Ember…" I said between a breath of air.

"Yeah?"

"Ember…move…Ember…MOVE!" I couldn't put it any nicer, and I felt bad. The heat was too much, but luckily she got the message. She smiled weakly as if to say "sorry."

"Hey…um…I'll be right back." She said and walked off to her bedroom. I remained sitting, letting the burn wear off. It wasn't bad, it just felt bad.

And then my cell phone went off. I grabbed it quickly so Ember wouldn't hear.

"What do you want Kimiko?" I demanded, I knew it was her.

"The same offer still stands Rai." She answered. "We're falling apart with out you. Jim will let you free, we'll welcome you back to the temple. Come on! What are you waiting for? Why do you even want to be with her anyway?"

"Because…Because, because!" I answered.

"Because what? Don't tell me something sappy like you love her or something!" Kim said, her voiced filled with anger. I stayed silent. Did I love Ember? "Hello?" Kim said after a while.

"I'm still here…" I said slowly.

"Well, tell us where you are! Please Rai! For your friends, for me! For who ever just tell us!" The pressure was getting to me. All these thoughts in my head going a million miles per hour. Do I stay with Ember? Do I rat her out? Do I hang up the phone? It was too much, and I'm not afraid to admit that tears began to well up in my eyes. I stayed silent, contemplating everything.

"Rai?" She asked again.

"Desert Creek, Texas." I chocked on the words and hung up. What did I do? Tears began to flow freely. How could I do this?

Ember came out of her room, and entered in the red dress I had seen before on our first date.

"Hey baby." She said and sat down on the couch next to me. "Where were we?"

"H-hey." I answered.

"Rai? You're crying! Rai what's wrong?" She asked worried.

"N-nothing. I'm fine." I said and whipped a tear.

"Okay…" She said uneasily.

"Uh, hey, where were we?" I asked, and then kissed her. She may have still been worried but she kissed me back, and soon we were making out again.

I don't know if I turned to her for comfort, but I do know one thing, this was the calm before the storm.

**Oh Rai, how could you? I always wanted to do a make-out scene, and now I have! Yay! And the whole ending scene, you can make that a nasty as you want, maybe they just kissed for a while, then got tired and went to bed. Or not. (wink) Oh, and I don't own _Wife Swap._ Anyway, I REALLY like how this chapter came out! And just so you know, there will be two more chapters. Next is called "From the Other POV," and then comes the final chapter. REVIEW!**


	26. From the Other POV

**I'm crazy updating! Enjoy:**

-From the other point of view…Kimiko's POV.-

"Get in the car!" Jim screamed as he rounded the corner of a busy Manhattan street.

"What, why?" I asked. We had followed Rai and Ember here to New York. After Jim traced the hotel, we all piled into a police car and drove a few blocks ahead of their hotel. Jim jumped out and had been on a wild chase ever since, trusting us to stay by the car. The only thing I could assume now was that Ember and Rai were going too fast to catch on foot. Or something like that.

"Just get in!" Jim bellowed. Well that did it. Me and my fellow monks piled into the car once more, and Jim took off driving like a mad women.

We rocketed through the streets, narrowly avoiding traffic and pedestrians. Each sharp turn became a real challenge as I tried to suppress a scream.

Soon we were on highway, going so fast I could barely see anything before it whizzed by. And Jim wasn't making any of us feel any safer; he was leaning out the window shooting at them!

"Jim, you're going to hit them!" I screamed.

"That's the point!" He barked back.

"You can't hit Rai, he's our friend!" Omi butted in, helping to prove my point.

"Well right now he's a wanted criminal!"

"Don't you DARE hit him!" I yelled, losing control of my temper.

"Kimiko." Clay said quickly, and putting a hand on my shoulder. He shot me look that said don't-make-any-trouble. I suppose he was right, picking a fight with a police officer wasn't a good idea…even though I could SO take him!

I kept quite as we sped through the highway. Ember's car wasn't doing so well. The entire right door had fallen away, and she just couldn't drive. I expected us to catch them. I expected us to stop them. I…I don't know what I expected, but it wasn't what happened.

Ember's car crashed through the railing, flipped off the highway, and rolled down a steep hill.

"RAI!" I screamed. No! He couldn't die! Rai was my best friend at the temple! He wasn't suppose to betray us like this…he was suppose to come back…he couldn't die….he couldn't…

Jim slowed down considerably, and drove towards the accident sight. He pulled up and stopped the car, and we all came out slowly. Nobody spoke; we all feared the worst.

I started for the hill, but Jim stuck out his hand, stopping me. I looked up at him shooting a "what" look.

"If you find them, don't do anything. Come get us, don't make a sound. If she's up…be careful." He put his hand down and I marched down the hill.

After several minutes I still didn't see anything. I just kept following the tracks from the car. Omi and Clay were following me from behind and Jim was off somewhere on his own.

"I can't believe Rai betrayed us…AGAIN." Clay muttered.

"I can!" I practically screamed, and turned to face him. "Rai doesn't care about good or evil. He goes to whoever offers him the best deal!"

"Kimiko, I don't think you should say such mean things about our friend." Omi commented.

"Friend?" I nearly exploded. "Friends don't betray each other, TWICE!" The were silent for a moment, and then Clay spoke again,

"I don't know what in tarnation made Rai go off with Ember, but he did. I still think he is out friend."

"If he's even alive." Omi said dismayed.

My shoulders drooped at the words. But then I perked up a bit. "He better be alive so I can KILL him!"

"Kimiko just drop it!" Clay yelled.

"No! I will never drop it! Rai is gone and we're falling apart, and you want me to act like everything is fine? I don't think so!" I couldn't help it; I was so angry.

"Kimiko I think you should listen to Clay." Omi said.

"Figures you would say that!" I started. "After all, this IS all your fault!"

"Now, just how is this Omi's fault?" Clay asked.

"It just is!" I argued back weakly, and turned on my heals. I trudged down the path still searching.

"I still don't see how this is my fault." Omi said quietly to Clay, tears in his eyes.

After a few minutes of searching, I found it; the car. The car was just sitting there.

"Rai!" I yelled and bolted for the car. Not a person was in sight, but the car was a total wreck. "Go get Jim!" I screamed at Omi and Clay.

"You go get him!" Clay yelled. "I'm not your slave!"

"Fine, Omi, you get him!" I retorted.

"Please stop yelling!" Omi sobbed.

This was turning into a nightmare. We NEEDED Raimundo back!

-A few hours later-

Unable to find any bodies, we headed back to the hotel Ember was at, and got three rooms. One for Jim, one for Clay and Omi, and since I was the only girl I got my own as well.

A quarter to five, I heard a knock on my door. I sullenly walked over and un-locked it, and got back on my bed. Jim entered, with a tray of food.

"Eat." He instructed, and dropped it on my bed. He started to leave.

"What can you tell me about Ember?" I asked. He turned around and headed back towards me.

"Only that she has the biggest ego ever." He answered. "Even more so then your bald friend."

I giggled, the first time in days. "Nobody has a bigger ego then Omi."

"Oh?" He said. "I beg to differ. One time Ember let me catch her, JUST so she could break out right under my nose!"

"No!" I gasped.

"Oh yes!" He persisted. "She melted right trough the bars. Ah, I hate that girl so much."

"You're not the only one." I sighed. "She's ruined everything! My life is hell now. We're all falling apart, and it keeps getting worse. And now, she's caused Rai's death!"

Jim fell silent. He pitied me, it was obvious. But he didn't know what to say. "He might not be dead…" Jim said slowly.

"We never found any bodies." I said back.

"Does Rai have a cell phone?" Jim asked.

"What?"

"Does he have a cell phone?" Jim said slower.

"Yes…" I wasn't sure where he was going with this.

"Call him." Jim said quietly, and handed me his cell. I took it in silence and dialed Rai's number. As it rang I pulled it slowly to my ear. Rai picked up.

"Hello?" I said uneasily.

"K-Kimiko?" He stuttered. It was defiantly him. He was alive!

"Rai?" I asked back, just to be sure.

"It is you!" Rai said. "Why are you calling me?" The volume was loud and Jim could hear everything. I looked at him, unsure of what to say.

"Tell him, I want to make a deal." Jim whispered to me.

"Jim wants to make a deal…" I said slowly, and looked to Jim.

"Well?" Rai said angrily. I kept starring Jim.

"Tell him, is he tells us where Ember is, I'll let him go free, no strings attached."

"He said, if you tell him where you are then he'll let you go free, no strings attached." I finished.

"What?" Rai said shocked. He had a bit of an attitude with me. Ember must be working her evil magic on him or something.

"He'll let you go free if you tell us where Ember is." I said slowly. There was a huge pause. He didn't say anything. "Rai?"

"Raimundo!" I heard a voice in the distance. It was Ember.

"Rai?" I asked again, frantically. And then the phone went dead.

--

The days passed by uneventfully. We still didn't know where Ember and Rai were, we weren't able to trace the call. All we did know was that they were alive. We spent our days searching for them; for all we knew they were still in New York. Even though we knew they had the tiger claws.

One night, Jim came into my room, followed by the boys. He told me to make another call. He wanted to make the call on speaker phone, but I wouldn't let him. I had to do this alone.

And so I dialed.

"What do you want Kimiko?" Rai demanded before I could even say 'hi'.

"Same offer still stands Rai." I said calmly. But just speaking to him, made me choke. I started to tear up. How could Rai betray us like this? "We're falling apart with out you!" I said crying. "Jim will let you free, We'll welcome you back to the temple. Come on! What are you waiting for? Why do you want to be with her anyway?" Now I was just angry.

"Because…Because, because!" He said back. How dare he? A stupid answer like that? I mean, did he really love her? Well even if he did, he still didn't answer my question, and I was really mad,

"Because what? Don't tell me something sappy like…like you love her or something!" There was no answer. "Hello?" I said a little more calmly.

"I'm still here…" He had calmed down to. The others look to me eagerly. I couldn't loose my cool again. I had to get the answer.

"Well tell us where you are! Please Rai!" I said, trying not to sound hysterical. I couldn't help it, I started crying again. "For your friends, for me! For who ever just tell us!"

There was an even longer pause. Was he actually thinking about it. "Rai?" I asked.

"Desert Creek, Texas." He chocked and hung up. I turned off my cell as well. The guys looked to me eagerly.

"I know where they are." I said slowly. "They're in Texas."

**I love this chapter. It really gives you a look at how the monks NEED Rai! Sorry if it was a little OOC. Anyway, REVIEW PLEASE! And next chap is the final chapter!**


	27. Three More Words

**The final chapter…It's so sad! (starts crying) Ahem anyway, it's hard letting this story go. I think it's my best yet. But it's over.**

**Enjoy the really long final chapter of Seemingly Innocent:**

(The next morning. Raimundo's POV.)

Nightmare. Nightmare. What are nightmares? A bad dream, a traumatic experience, or more correctly, what my life has become. As I stand here, where it's all finished, it's all over, I can't help but think that this isn't the end. And…and it's not. Ending are suppose to be happy. The good people win. The main character gets the girl and they live happily ever after. But no, that wasn't happening this time. Then again…was I the good guy?

I had "tattled." I told on Ember. I gave away my girlfriends hiding place, just so things could go back to normal. Normal. Normal. What is normal? Usual, that's what. But I mean usual, who wants to be usual? I don't want to be normal! I'm unique! I mean, I control the wind!

But regardless of that, this was still a nightmare. It was over. It was all over. And I couldn't but help but feel responsible, but then again, I **was** responsible.

And now, I will finish my story. I will tell you how this nightmare ended. Every detail. This is how it ends:

It was a normal, usual day. Nothing unique about it. Except my entire night was plagued by nightmares. In one, Jim turned on me and I was sent to jail for ever. In another Ember snapped and killed us all. Horrid one after horrid one. And why? Because I told; and I was scared.

I woke up before Ember and was scrambling around in the kitchen. I wanted to cook her something special before _they_ came. She didn't know about them. And the guilt was tearing me apart.

As I stood in the small kitchen cooking up some eggs, I heard a door open. I turned around and Ember walked out looking very sleepy. She was in the same dress as last night…last night…oh gosh…

"Hey…" She said; she sounded tired. Then she yawned loudly and grabbed the coffee beans.

"Morning." I said, sounding to sound cheery. "Look, I already made some." I pointed to the coffee pot. She put the bag o' beans down, yawned once more, poured herself a cup, and then headed for the sofa.

I finished up the tray of food and brought it over while she was still channel surfing.

"You didn't have to make my breakfast." She smiled.

"I wanted to." I answered quickly and sat down. I was starting to sweat from nerves; that's how bad it was.

I tried to tell her then, but nothing came out. I tried again later, same results. I waited longer, one hour. That time I was able to get out some words, but nothing involving Jim. I just started babbling about the weather. But she needed to know. I was going to tell her. I had to.

Eventually two long hours passed. I was ready. As Ember coffee buzz wore down she turned to video games, and brought out the _playstation two. _We were playing some wrestling game when finally I paused it.

"What'd you do that for?" Ember demanded angrily.

"I-I have to tell you so-something." I stuttered.

"Okay shoot. But hurry up I wanna keep playin'!"

"A-alright." I started. "I-I…I…I told!"

"You told who what?" She blinked in confusion.

"I-I…I told Jim!"

Her face darkened. "You told Jim what?" Her voice was cold and angry sounding, but I could tell she was scared.

"No…well I didn't tell Jim…bu-but he knows!" I started to tear up. This was too hard.

"Rai, just explain calmly, okay?" She sounded nicer now. Like a mother soothing a young child.

"Ki-Kimiko called me on my cell…She said…She said that, that if I told where you were, they would…he would…I-I'd go free." I started to sob. With each word I hated myself more the stupid decision I had made.

Ember hesitated, "…And?"

"I told!" I sobbed loudly. Tears began flowing down my cheeks freely. I tried to stop crying and look like a man but I couldn't. "I told them we were in Texas! I-I…I don't deserve to be your partner! I'm a terrible person!" I kept babbling about how awful I was.

"Rai," Ember said, I didn't shut up, "Rai…RAI!" Finally she smacked me, causing me to stop my hysterical behavior.

"Ow…" I rubbed my cheek. "That stings…and burns…ow…"

"Sorry." She muttered.

"But Ember I told! Why aren't you trying to kill me or something?" I was surprised by her calm manner.

"Rai it's okay…I mean, I probably would've done the same thing!" She forced a small chuckle. I smiled weakly but it soon turned to a frown. "Did you tell them where in Texas?" She asked.

"No…I just said Texas."

"Then I have a plan." She smiled big. "They don't know where we are in Texas. And face it, Texas is HUGE! Jim has that little thing that can track my heat waves, but it won't work unless we're close to each other. Rai, we don't have to stay here!" She smiled and took my hand with her gloved one. "We can go somewhere else. Travel the world! Anywhere you wanna go!"

"Anywhere?" I repeated

"Yeah! Anywhere!" She said excited. "It'll be a while before they find us…let's go to Paris!"

"Paris? Paris, France?"

"Yup!" She nodded.

"Okay." I said. "But still…"

"But still what?" Ember asked.

"I told…" I said slowly. "I mean I told! How can you forgive me for something like that!" The tears began cascading down as I beat myself up on the inside. "I'm sorry Ember…I'm so sorry…I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry, and I-I…And I love you!" I practically screamed.

"Wha-What?" She stuttered.

"I…I love you." I said slowly.

"Rai, I…" She started to say but out of no where stopped mid-sentence. "We should probably get going." She said quietly, "Who knows when Jim'll show up."

I nodded silently wondering why she stopped talking. Did she love me? Does she love me, but is she afraid to say it? The thoughts swarmed through my head as we scurried around packing. I figured we could take our time, but Ember was rushing things.

As we finished up the last bag and headed for the door, the thoughts were still roaming around in my head. Did she love me? Did she love me? Did she love me? The thoughts kept repeating until something happened. Something happened that made them stop.

Ember opened the door.

And parked outside were three cop cars.

Police officers surrounded us.

My fellow monks and friends were there as well.

And Jim was in the middle, waiting.

I stood there starring, my mouth agape. Slowly and creakily I rolled my head to the side. Ember had the exact same expression. Suddenly her expression faded and she had her game face back.

"I have a plan." She whispered real quick.

"Mary Leigh Smith," Jim started, Ember cringed at her real name, "You are under arrest. Put your hands up and come forward."

Ember didn't move.

"I am authorized to shoot! Put your hands up and come forward, NOW!" Jim pressed on. I turned to Ember again, and gave her look. Each moment mentally willing her more and more to move.

But still, she did nothing but stand there and smirk.

"Raimundo, you might want to get out of the way…" Jim said, and reached for his gun.

"NO!" I shouted and jumped in front of Ember.

"Move where I push you." Ember whispered in my ear from behind me.

"What?" I asked.

"You'll figure it out." She said and placed both hands on my shoulders. I jumped. It wasn't hot, I was just shocked.

She gave me a light push. I didn't do anything. She pushed again. Nothing. This time she shoved me a little on the hard side, I got the message. Slowly, I put one foot on the next step. I was going to be her human shield…great….But Jim wouldn't shoot me…right?

"Keep going." She whispered. We shakily made our way down the stairs and finally made it to the bottom. With each step my shoulders got hotter and hotter. Ember had put gloves on, but I could still feel the heat.

Now that we were at the bottom, I expected we would stop. I mean, Ember couldn't just keep walking with me like this…could she?

With every next step the police tensed up even more. Jim had his hands on his gun, ready to give it a squeeze if anything happened. The other cops starred, ready for action.

One more step…And I made eye contact with my friends, the monks. Clay gave me a good look for a minute. His face and eyes letting me know how much I had hurt everybody. He then turned away.

Omi seemed to be seconds away from tears. His face just said "But why?"

And Kimiko was the worst. Pure hatred filled her eyes. I could feel her glare blasting holes in me. It's was awful…but then I realized something. She wasn't looking at me, she was glaring at Ember.

I was too busy watching my friends that I didn't notice Ember stop; giving me a slight jolt when I did stop. We stood there starring at cops for quite some time, and finally Jim made the first move.

"Release the boy." He demanded coolly.

"The boy has a name." I snapped back. There was no doubt in my mind that living with Ember made my attitude worse.

"Fine…Release Raimundo Pendrosa." Jim said.

"Aw, but he's so cuddly." Ember whined. She eased her hands from shoulders and wrapped them around me in some freaky hug thing. I nearly jumped when she did it, but calmed down. I just relaxed. "Do I have to?" Ember asked sweetly. She just loved annoying everyone…and it worked.

"Let go of the boy…" Jim said slowly. I glared. "I mean Raimundo."

"Do you trust me?" Ember whispered very quietly.

"NO WHISPERING!" Jim bellowed.

"Yes." I said through the corner of my mouth. Though I couldn't see her, I could feel her nod "O.K." And before I knew what was happening I was brutally shoved forward. My friends caught me and Clay steadied me as I got up. I turned to face Ember. She'd thrown off her gloves and now had two fire balls resting in both.

We stood there starring for a while before Jim took charge once again.

"You're under arrest. Put…put…put out the fireballs and put your hands up."

"But where's fun in that?" Ember whinned. Unlike me she thought we could win…or at least she could win. With my friends holding me back we might have a problem _both_ escaping.

"Put your hands up!" he yelled.

"Nah…I don't wanna." Ember persisted.

"Do it!"

"Do it? Oh how naughty!" Ember giggled. I couldn't help crack a smile.

"That's it!" Jim exclaimed fed up. He reached out a hand lighting fast towards Ember. But Ember was anticipating the move. When his hand was an inch away her body burst into flame. At firsts I was worried but then I couldn't finally see her outline. She had completely covered herself in fire. No one would be able to read her.

"And everything will go up in flames…" Ember whispered. Jim pulled his hand away and looked to his fellow officers. Giving them a look that said "what do I do?"

"I-I'll shoot!" Jim finally yelled.

"You'd shoot at something engulfed in flames? Do you KNOW how dangerous that could be?" Ember taunted. The height of the fire shifted and saw Ember sit on the dirt floor. "You see Jim, I can stay like this. I can stay here for a very long time and you can't do anything. You can pour water on me or get a fire extinguisher. It won't work. So I hope you have a plan."

Jim starred for a moment, then closed his eyes in deep thought. "But…you can't run." He finally said slowly.

"Eh what?" Ember said stupidly. She stood up again and the fire raised higher.

"You can't run!" Jim said again louder. "You can stay there as long as you want but you can't get away! You're surrounded! And soon you'll need food and water! You might be there for a while miss Smith but you can't run!" Jim said excited.

"What…" Ember said in a voice that was…scared. She was scared. Her arrogance was gone and her ever-so-present-smirk faded. She was worried that it was all over. I was worried to. "No!" She finally screamed. "I can to get away! I can go phoenix and fly!" Her confidence was either coming back, or she was in denial.

"Ember, everyone here knows that you can't fly unless you get a good running start." Jim retorted.

"No!" She screamed frustrated. The tip of the fire spread out and crashed into two of the cars. Sending them tumbling.

"Ember…Stop." I whispered as she readied to destroy another car. I wasn't sure why but tears started flowing down my face. It was somehow an emotional moment.

"What?" She said and walked over to me. My friends stepped back, away from the flaming girl.

"We're caught." I sobbed. She starred back for a moment and then the flames around her disappeared.

"We can't be caught." She said lowering her head.

"But…we are." We starred into each other eyes for a minute. For a while I thought it would turn into some cheesy end-of-the-movie-kiss, but something else happened.

While we were distracted Jim had raced up behind Ember and slapped the cuffs on. Special cuffs too. The metal had to be at least four inches thick and it fit tightly around her wrists.

"Huh? What?" Ember whipped around and came face-to-face with the cop.

"You're caught…It's over Ember. The phoenix has been caught." Jim answered, trying to hide the pride in his face.

"No…"She whispered. Jim didn't care about being gentle and roughly started dragging her to the car. As she was pulled along she gave me this look. She was confused. She was angry. She was sad. The look wads worth a million words. But the one thing that I noticed the most it just screamed "Don't go."

I watched her leaving being pulled to the car. She was fighting back slightly but not to hard. I felt a hand on my shoulder. I turned around to see Clay.

"Welcome back partner." He said.

I pulled away from his hand. "Who says I want to be back?"

"Rai-" Kimiko started.

"No! I don't care!" I yelled at them. "I don't care about being a monk or anything!"

We were quite for a minute. Then Kimiko spoke again, "Did she hurt you?"

"Of course she didn't hurt me!" I retorted. "She loves…She didn't hurt me! I don't wanna talk about this!" I turned around angrily and saw Ember only a foot away from the cop car.

Kimiko, unable to hold back any more rage exploded, "YOU RUINED EVERYTHING!" She screamed at Ember.

"Yeah, yeah, back at ya bitch." Ember muttered just loud enough for us to hear. Clay and Omi then had to restrain Kimiko from attacking her.

Ember was forcefully shoved in the car and Jim got into the driver seat. While my friends were distracted with Kimiko I ran up to the window of the front seat.

"Officer…about me, I-" I started but Jim cut me off.

"I'm keeping my word Raimundo. You're free to go. Leave . Go live your life." He answered.

I looked to the back seat. Ember's capture had finally set in her mind and she was crying gently. "What will become of her?" I asked choking on the words.

"She'll get a few years in prison…more than a few actually."

I sobbed a little. "Will I be able to visit her?"

"A few times." He answered truthfully. He wasn't looking me in the eye. He knew he had destroyed my life. "I gotta um…I gotta go now."

I nodded silently and look to Ember. She was pressing her face into the glass.

"Bye…" I sobbed loudly and waved weakly. The cars started moving along the dirt road slowly. "Bye…" I said once more and broke down and started crying.

I looked up once to see Ember was now facing out the back window. And though she was far I could see her clearly. She started mouthing something. I could read the words clearly.

"I love you." She mouthed over and over again, tears streaming down her face.

Those were the three other words. The three other words that will keep with me forever.

And now here I stand. Telling my story and watching her drive away. Watching her leave.

The one true love of my life was…gone.

**THE END**

**AW! IT'S SO SAD! (crys)**

**The part where Rai was slapped by Ember was something I said when I was doing this role playing thing. In case you were wondering for some reason.**

**Now that this is over I'll be writing/publishing like twenty thousand one-shots and then I'll get to work on those three big stories I keep talking about.**

**I Really hope you enjoyed this story, and I WILL be writing a sequel! It just might not be for a while…**

**Now, this is your final chance to review! So PLEASE review! And that means you! (Glares at like the twenty people who read this story but never review.)**

**Again, I hope you enjoyed this and please check out my other work!**


End file.
